[shabbles]

I was on the FoodNetwork website earlier and spotted an ad for this Chinese slimming tea supposedly endorsed by Oprah. I was curious enough to click on the site and of course it claimed to be the authentic Wu-Long tea. Don't accept any cheap imitations and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, there were some pretty impressive claims. Very slick marketing and I smell scam. I know a lot of supplements contain high concentrations of Green tea, but this stuff claims to be more effective than Green tea. Just curious if anyone saw the Oprah show about this or has used the Wu Long tea with any real results?

[kaplods]

Sometimes "asian weight loss teas" include strong herbal stimulants and laxatives, so they can be dangerous or have extremely unpleasant "bathroom" side effects. Don't know about this one specifically, just thought you should be prepared, just in case.

[Suzanne 3FC]

I wouldn't put too much stock into the claim that it was endorsed by Oprah or CNN. That's just a gimmick the advertiser uses to get your attention, and I've seen it on tons of text ads for products Oprah has never endorsed.

[penpal]

I did a little research and this appears to be yet another rip-off. Wu-Long tea is the same as Oolong tea (different spelling). Here is some info: There are three types of tea made from the tea bush. These are black teas, which are fully oxidised before drying; green teas, which are unoxidised; and Oolongs, which are somewhere in the middle and combine the best qualities of both.

The Wu-Long website lists the ingredients as 100% Wu-Long (Oolong) tea. At $37.00 for 60 teabags (plus s/h) this is a mighty high price to pay for plain old tea. Being a Brit, I am naturally very fond of tea and Oolong is very pleasant tasting. You can buy it on line for about $3.50 a box of 100 teabags.

The website also is misleading in stating that celebrities (such as Rachel Ray) recommend eating a diet high in antioxidants (duh!) giving the misleading impression that their product has been endorsed by that celebrity.

By the way, if you drink tea for its antioxidant properties, you might consider rooibos tea (actually from a shrub that is not related to regular tea - camellia sinensis) that is extremely high in antioxidants and has no caffeine at all.

[veggielover]

HI there. Take it from a chinese person that drinks oolong everyday (me); NO, it doesn;t aid in "slimming". For me, its a pick me upper. For others, it works as a laxative and a slight appetite supressant. It never works for me because I drink it everyday and I'm probably used to it by now, but I drink it because I love the way it tastes...

[nelie]

I drink lots of tea and if tea was slimming, I'd be a size 2 by now! Actually tea contains caffeine, which gives a mild calorie burning boost (very mild) and tea can supress your appetite slightly. Tea is also a diuretic so it can give a slight boost to those that have excess water weight. Antioxidants are awesome for the body and I recommend consuming foods high in antioxidants but those won't help you lose weight. To burn fat... diet and exercise are what are needed.