Tea contains high levels of compounds that combat the absorption of fat, Japanese scientists have found. These compounds, called theaflavins and thearubigins, stopped weight gain when given to rats on a high-fat diet, the journal Nutrition reported this month.
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A new study shows that tea can help promote weight loss -- but only if you leave out the milk and sugar.
Proteins in cows' milk neutralize not only tea's fat-fighting ability but also its cholesterol-blocking properties. That means bad news for Britons, the Daily Mail reports, who drink 165 million cups of tea a day, 98 percent of those cups with milk.
A previous study found that white tea, specifically, can fight obesity. The study by a German health food company in 2009 found that Chinese white tea reduces growth of new fat cells and broke down the fat contained in existing cells.
The study by Beiersdorf AG, published in the journal Nutrition and Metabolism, said extracts of white tea reduced fat levels on laboratory-grown human fat cells.
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