Originally Posted by
AdamGH
Yea, generally you want to stick to just straight water. Staying well hydrated allows your body to operate efficiently, burn fat properly, maintain maximum exercise performance, and helps suppress your appetite so you don’t overeat. Avoid sweetened drinks such as sodas and juices as the extra calories will usually just be deposited as body fat. Drinking just plain water and some unsweetened teas throughout the day is the best way to go.
Here is an article on benefits of drinking tea:
Besides containing caffeine, several types of tea contain other compounds that can significantly enhance your fat loss efforts. Specifically, the teas that have been getting all of the attention for their fat loss benefits are green tea and oolong tea. Green tea and oolong tea contain substances called catechins and polyphenols, along with caffeine, and these substances work through several different mechanisms in our bodies to promote fat loss. Although black tea (the normal type of tea used for iced tea and the most common tea sold) does contain caffeine and antioxidants, and may also help promote fat loss, I have yet to see any studies relating black tea to fat loss. Another promising tea that I’ve seen referenced as potentially having some properties that promote fat loss is white tea. White tea is a little harder to find, but including it in your tea blend may be beneficial.
The supplement manufacturers have caught on to the tea craze over the last few years, and if you’ve noticed, almost every fat burner supplement on the market now contains green tea extract. Studies have shown that the compounds in green tea and oolong tea stimulate thermogenesis (conversion of fat to heat), helping you to lose body fat. It has been found that green tea and oolong tea can increase your metabolic rate significantly, while also promoting an increase in the percentage of fat utilized for energy. They basically help to promote a shift in your metabolism by reducing the quantity of carbohydrates used for energy and increasing the amount of fat used for energy. In addition, green and oolong teas contain compounds that slow the digestion of carbohydrates, thus promoting a lower blood sugar response to meals, so you store less glucose as body fat. Also, a compound found in oolong tea has been noted to inhibit the quantity of fat that is digested from a meal, meaning that you’re absorbing less calories.
There is ample evidence showing that green, oolong, and even white teas work through multiple mechanisms in your body to promote fat loss and a leaner body. To give you an extra fat loss advantage, I recommend brewing batches of a mixture of green, oolong, and white teas and refrigerate this as iced tea. If you have to sweeten it, use a non-caloric sweetener so you’re not adding extra sugar calories to your diet. Stevia is a good natural non-caloric sweetener that is not chemically processed like artificial sweeteners. Also, unless you have to avoid caffeine for some reason, I’d recommend staying away from the decaffeinated teas, since the caffeine contributes to some of the fat burning effect. A strategy you may want to try is drinking a glass of the iced tea mixture with each of your first three meals of the day (no later than mid-afternoon, so as not to interfere with your sleep at night). From my experience, you’ll see a noticeably quicker fat loss when you start adding 3 or 4 cups of this tea mixture to your diet on a daily basis. Again, if you’re eating too many total calories, none of this will matter, and you won’t see an increased fat loss.
Also, don’t waste your money on the fat burner pills with green tea extracts. They’re way overpriced, and you’re better off getting the tea the way you were meant to get it…by brewing it yourself.
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