Does Tea Makes You Fat?
Tea is a beverage obsession of many Indians. So when I switched to Healthy Eating, I began to wonder if tea makes you fat?
Now coming straight to the question tea is not inherently fattening. There’s no ingredient in ‘tea’ that is fattening. In fact, tea is good for health if taken in the right way but it’s the combination & preparation that actually plays the role.
Having one cup of tea won’t make much of a difference if you can tweak the ingredients and manage your daily calorie goal of around 1800-2000 calories a day. Thus, it is not Chai that leads to weight gain but the addition of taste enhancers like sugar, heavy cream, or full-fat milk.
The classic regular chai tea consists of high-fat milk & sugar. An average cup of tea contains 120-150 calories. With this mixture and proportion, Tea consumed 3-5 times a day will definitely not help you to lose fat
One cup of tea in a day won’t usually make that much difference when it comes to your weight. But as any tea drinker would openly confess, one cup is just not enough.
If you are a chai enthusiast, you will know that 3-4 cups of chai is a normal affair for Indians.
If you think you have to give up completely, all I’m saying is DON’T GIVE UP. Please understand it’s not easy if you have been drinking tea all your life. If you are fighting an addiction you can’t just tell the person to stop it. That’s not the solution. Instead, try a systematic approach. Reduce the number of teas gradually. Make your own tea & try healthier ways.
According to WHO you can still add sugar to your diet in moderation or occasionally. Yes, you can add jaggery as well but from a weight loss point of view, both have almost similar calories. If you don’t want processed food jaggery is better.
Please note I’m not asking you to drink tea or telling you it will help you to lose weight. If you don’t drink tea. GOOD
Balance is the name of the game.
If you don’t want to compromise with the sweet taste then reduce the total tea intake. With little modifications, you can still enjoy your tea even if you are trying to lose weight
I would rather have a slow and steady progression in fat loss while enjoying my guilty pleasures than letting go of everything tasty this life and world have to offer.
Many types of tea are especially high in beneficial compounds like flavones and catechins, which could aid in weight loss as well. Coupled with a healthy diet and regular exercise, a cup or two of tea each day could help you boost weight loss and prevent harmful belly fat.