Hi BlackSky!
(First, sorry if this gets posted twice... I wasn't logged in and something went haywire in my posting. :[ I'll try and remember what I wrote. )
First: the Lipton Caramel Vanilla Truffle has high fructose corn syrup in it! I was absolutely SHOCKED. I went shopping the other day to look at the new Lipton whole leaf line, and it has a whole bunch of sugar in it! And we know where THAT goes... ;]
Second: Clearly, it does matter what kind of tea you're drinking if something as common as Lipton has sugar in it! "Herbal tea" as some other ladies have been suggesting is fine if you want to stay hydrated, but honestly, it doesn't do much for you. The main reason is that MOST (not all) herbal teas don't actually have TEA in them.
If it doesn't have leaf from Camellia Sinensis (the tea plant) in it, then it's not really tea. The reason this is important is because tea has three fat zapping assassins in it: l-theanine (amino acid), EGCG (antioxidant), and caffeine.
These awesome parts of tea do a whole lot of things for us. They increase caloric burn, even if you're just sitting at your desk, by stimulating thermogenesis. They actually attach themselves to fat in your food and keep them from depositing in your body. Plus, there's a lot of detoxifying properties in them as well.
If you're worried about caffeine, don't be! First, tea is only 3% caffeine, which is like half of coffee. And if you're using whole leaf tea (which is what I do and it works best), after the first time you brew them, the caffeine is gone. So if you drink from the same leaves all day, you'll only get caffeine in that first cup. Nice for the morning pep!
Tea is also great for curbing cravings because it helps regulate your blood sugar (lower blood sugar = less cravings and vice versa, I know, it's a vicious cycle!).
The absolute best tea for weight loss is going to be whole leaf and will have Chinese medicinal herbs in it. Garcinia and gymnena sylvestre are both appetite suppressants (all natural!) that help regulate blood sugar as well. I have only found ONE tea company in the world that has all of this and more in their tea... and they're not even open yet! It's called Physique Tea, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be obsessed with it as soon as they open. I'm pretty sure they have stuff up on Amazon though... just search Physique Tea. I've been getting mine from their Etsy store.
Anyway! I am a little bit of a tea snob. I have been using it for weight loss for years, and yes, it really DOES work, as long as you have one that doesn't have sugar in it! (Darn it, Lipton!)
Good luck ladies! I knew a lady who lost 40 pounds just by adding tea to her daily regimen, holy cows...
If you have any questions about tea I'd love to help. Like I said, I've been studying it exclusively in relation to weight loss and I get excited to drink my tea all the time.
Jacqueline Thank you for the info! So, I need to look at the label when choosing a tea to make sure it has no High Fructose Corn Syrup and it should have the leaf from Camellia Sensis? I did not know that Lipton had High Fructose Corn Syrup in it! There are so many kinds of tea to choose from at my local grocery store. Can you recommend a good one for me?
Ok So I looked at the Lipton tea website...It does not show any high fructose corn syrup in it at all. I don't know if the ready made drinks have it, but the tea bags dont.
I love Teavana teas! They are not technically organic by US standards, but they are by European standards, which are more strict, so it's really clean and healthy. Their Chocolate Mint Black tea is dessert in a cup! SO yummy but really high in caffeine, so you have to be careful of getting jittery. Haven't had it on IP, but I used to love it! Also Teavana Aztec Fire (spicy chocolate with strawberry undertones), MateVana (Yerba Mate that doesn't have the weird smokey taste. Chocolatey and rich and caffeinated but better for your nervous system than black tea). Also, Teavana Pear Luna white tea is heavenly. Most of their teas are! Most important of all, I could never leave out my one truest "tea love," pure loose-leaf strongly brewed peppermint. So good iced or hot! I also love ginger tea! Just cut some thin slices off a piece of ginger root, boil and steep and enjoy! Amazing for digestion and tummy-aches (as, of course, is peppermint). Anyway, I'd better stop before I never stop! Have I mentioned how much I adore tea? Yummy relaxation!
I have had Barry's Irish Classic tea for years, with milk in it, but when I was in Phase 1, the paltry amount of skim milk allowed was not worth using, so I tried Chai tea and loved it. I made a mix of my Barry's and Chai every morning, black. The spices in the Chai are wonderful. Now I have added a spoonful of Yerbe Matte, which is used in South America to curb your appetite. I thought it tasted like drinking grass by itself, but mixed in with the Chai, it's great.
Also have several decaf teas, including a decaf Chai that I like to combine with the Vanilla or Butterscotch puddings into a great iced drink.
My favorite tea is Phenix Dancong from a tea vender, its name is JK Tea Shop. And i love their Imperial Mt Wudong Mi Lan Xiang most. And when the tea run out, i always buy 500grams per time from them. This kind of tea is: https://www.jkteashop.com/imperial-m...tea-p-262.html
I LOVE the Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Sunset and Earl Grey teas- I used to get them online, but now they sell them at target too. Lots of flavor and no calories!
When I really need a dessert-ish treat I use Celestial Seasonings herbal fruit 'teas' or President's Choice herbal teas (in Canada). A good recipe is brew a strong cup of Spiced Apple and add a few drops (as needed) of either a caramel flavoured stevia or Skinny Syrups Salted Caramel, for a yummy caramel apple taste. The blueberry tea and raspberry tea are quite good as well. Remember that any sweeteners used count toward your limit per day on IP.
canadjineh
