TeaChat

Hey teafans. I'm new here (obviously) but I've been reading posts for ideas for some time. I'm not strictly a pu erh person, but it's my go-to tea when I need calm focus.

In any case I keep on running in to claims that it's a "weight loss" tea. This is how the American chain "tevana" bills it. (Can't say I'm impressed with tevana, too many herbal teas... but maybe it's a good place for some folks to start)

I was wondering what people who drink this tea often think of the claim.

My observations:

* It would be a good fasting tea because it's calming
* But it can be high in caffeine some of the time not good for fasting.
* Caffeine might help with weight loss??
* Tea makes me want to eat cookies.

I'm not really looking to lose weight myself. Just curious why pu erh is being linked to diets....

Cheaper puerh is not a friendly taste to newbies, sheng or shu. And nobody needs any help to drink the nice stuff. Just marketing, is all.

All teas can in theory be viewed as Diet teas, but I am not sure there is any tea I would recommend for fasting. In my experience tea on an empty stomach is a bad idea, and a lot of tea on an empty stomach is far worse.

But all C. Sinensis teas contain nutrients and other components which do help boost metabolism ( I've heard all sorts of numbers, but none are life changing, its something along the lines of 2-15 Calories a day ). Possibly teas best use for a diet, and this again is true of all teas, is as long as you are not adding milk, or sweeteners, tea is basically a zero Calorie beverage, and chances are it will replace other beverages, and if it replaces things like Soda's or Fruit Juices, you are dieting because you are cutting those Calories from your diet.

I've heard from somewhere or another that the bacteria present in shu can act as a probiotic. So that's another angle to consider when evaluating the truth of pu-as-weight-loss-supplement claims. But I suspect that most of the effect of any tea on one's diet & caloric intake is similar what Adam already outlined.

Anything with caffeine has the potential to drastically reduce your appetite, although most pu erh is lower in caffeine than other teas.

The fermentation process that the tea underwent could also lead to changes in the stomach after regularly drinking the tea.

My wife told me mainly cheap shu pu erh is thought to be good for this in china.

Some research has been done on this already btw. :

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 1711000923 (only 36 participants, so not exactly a high quality study)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 8/abstract (on tea in general)

Most people are lazy in general and want magic pills that allow them to lose weight while still eating junk food. Obviously nothing will really help with that.

Poohblah wrote:I've heard from somewhere or another that the bacteria present in shu can act as a probiotic.

Would only work without significantly heated water though and I'm not sure if that's a good idea given the dirtiness of the manufacturing process.

Bacteria are killed by heat but endospore can survive. Though now I'm just starting to creep myself out.

hype

first, if drinking puerh had the effect of being on a diet, I would weigh two stone soaking wet. I can tell you I don't.

Secondly, puerh can cause your hands to sweat and you jump up and down, or make you so tea drunk you can't stand. The same tea affects people differently as well.

Thirdly, as Adam mentioned, at least for me, some young shengs make you nauseous or dizzy on an empty stomach.

You can't really generalize on that type of claim that "puerh is a diet tea".

Through trial and error you might find a puerh with the calming effect you want. In a way, the process of making tea can be calming in itself.

futurebird wrote:I was wondering what people who drink this tea often think of the claim.

Silly hype, having no effect whatsoever on my enjoyment of the tea.

Whenever something is billed as "great for dieting", my ears shut down.

"fasting tea" ?
do not drink tea when fasting, only water.