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With that holiday between Christmas chocolate and Easter chocolate over, it’s time to refocus on those New Year’s resolutions. Plus sweatshirt season won’t last forever.
I love sweatshirt season. Am I wearing a bra? Who knows! Am I wearing what I wore to bed under it? Maybe.
So what if a cup of tea could melt your fat away, boost your energy, make you look like a supermodel? Oh, if it were only that easy, I could wear anything I wanted…without causing a traffic accident or traumatizing the neighbourhood children.
It’s been marketed by different names: flat belly tea, slim tea, skinny tea, fit tea. They can be sold in kits, with one of more teas to be taken daily over a period of time. The marketers are geniuses, using celebrities and skinny “bunnies” with great abs wearing postage stamp yoga wear to sell promises: lose weight, burn calories, boost metabolism, suppress appetite, increase energy, cleanse and detoxify…like most things, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is!
Most of these products allege that they can detoxify the body from toxins you accumulate through food, the environment, you name it! But our bodies were created with systems to deal with pollutants, and a healthy body simply doesn’t need more help.
The “quick-fix” mentality may also encourage bad eating habits, like fasting or shying away from nutrient-rich foods, which end up weakening the body.
While many of these teas contain natural ingredients, frequently there is not enough information to determine whether they are in fact effective. Others have been proven to make no difference. The tea component contains flavonoids, antioxidants, and some level of caffeine. All of these are conducive to weight loss, and may help reduce inflammation and digestive upsets, but let’s be honest, on their own, without proper diet and exercise (and sometimes even with), they aren’t miracle workers. Drinking any type of tea increases water intake, which flushes out excess salt and retained water, and fills you up so you snack less. It’s also a great option to high calorie beverages like soda or beer, but water is one of the best, easiest and least expensive ways to shed a few ounces. I like my water with tea leaves, please!
So if the promises aren’t true, why are they allowed to market this way? Skinny teas are considered dietary supplements and therefore are not subject to the same standards that require them to prove their claims.
Now do you feel cheated, used, and abused? Me too. I’ve always been skeptical of the whole “slim tea” bandwagon, but once again, as with most things, if it sounds too good to be true, it may not be true.
Look, I can’t make everyone happy. I’m not bacon! Live in the moment – drink tea!
Happy Monday!
