Tea and Coffee = weight loss?

seleniumbaby
seleniumbaby Posts: 18
in Food and Nutrition
Hi, everyone. I've seen around the Internets (and I assume most of you have too) that drinking tea and coffee can increase one's metabolism and promote weight loss. Of course there is no conclusive evidence either way, but I was wondering if any fellow MFPer's have advice or experience in this regard. Has drinking tea and/or coffee helped any of you in your weight loss? If so, how?

Personally, I am interested because I drink a fair amount of tea (loose leaf, different kinds; no sugar) and coffee (mostly regular, with only milk added) and I was wondering if this could help me lose weight if I applied my habits in a certain way. For one, I have begun drinking tea excessively whenever I feel hungry in hopes this will "fill me up" :P I know that is silly but does anyone think it has any basis in reality?

Thank you for your input!

Replies

  • seleniumbaby
    seleniumbaby Posts: 18
    please?
  • olletho
    olletho Posts: 20 Member
    I think consuming enough caffeine to change your metabolic rate enough to lose weight would mess up your sleep past any reason. I'd be up a clock tower in a clown suit in under a week. <hyperbole for the sake of humour people>
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,301 Member
    I have not seen this on the internet myself.

    Must frequent different sites.

    however I don't think tea or coffee has any magical properties to assist weight loss.

    If you like them, drink them - in moderation of course, just like any other substance.

    I drink coffee with small amount of low fat milk, no sugar, and is only 20 calories/cup.
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
    It's the calories in/out that make for weight loss, rather than caffeine doing something to the metabolism. I log any milk I use, but don't bother with black tea or coffee.

    Also, I'm a 'lousy tea sucking Brit' and if really did help with weight loss, I'd be dead skinny as I drink buckets of the stuff.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    Hi, everyone. I've seen around the Internets
    That should be the clue! I also frequently see dancing dogs on the internet. There is no easy short cut to losing weight just putting the work in and eating sensibly at a deficit
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    Well that certainly sounds ridiculous.
  • EDollah
    EDollah Posts: 464 Member
    I've read articles that claim that green tea can have some metabolism boosting effects, in addition to some other benefits I won't bother to list.

    Personally I just drink the amount of tea and coffee that I like to have and would not increase consumption for purposes of weight loss. I'm certainly not going to cut that consumption either though.
  • motivatedmartha
    motivatedmartha Posts: 1,108 Member
    Regular exercise would give your metabolism more of a boost than drinking tea/coffee. Eat or drink things because you enjoy them - not because they have 'magical' properties. Log what you eat - keep to a deficit and move more - weight loss/fitness and better health will then follow. Most important - enjoy the journey to fitness :smile:
  • onmyway57
    onmyway57 Posts: 22
    LOL so funny some of your remarks, I drink because I enjoy Tea I think it is better than soft drinks which I am limiting to one Diet Coke a day.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It does increase your metabolism....by like 1 or 2 calories per hour or something. Certainly not anything that is truly going to impact your weight loss.

    Eat a little less and move a little more and get your nutrition on...I've found that formula to be pretty beneficial to weight loss. Don't bother looking for short cuts...they don't really exist. All of these things you see like Tea and Coffee and eating X small meals per day or whatever really do very little...focus on what is important...that would be your energy (calorie) intake.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
    It does increase your metabolism....by like 1 or 2 calories per hour or something. Certainly not anything that is truly going to impact your weight loss.

    Eat a little less and move a little more and get your nutrition on...I've found that formula to be pretty beneficial to weight loss. Don't bother looking for short cuts...they don't really exist. All of these things you see like Tea and Coffee and eating X small meals per day or whatever really do very little...focus on what is important...that would be your energy (calorie) intake.

    This!

    I used to drink 4-6 pots of coffee a day and got up to 285 lbs so don't think it's going to make a big difference.
  • liftsforchocolate
    liftsforchocolate Posts: 273
    I feel a dramatic difference when I do drink coffee, so I workout a lot harder and burn more calories. Coffee or stimulants in general will temporarily increase your metabolism and elevate your heart rate.
  • LTKeegan
    LTKeegan Posts: 354 Member
    Maybe if you drink enough coffee so you start shaking you burn extra calories by shaking ;-)
  • seleniumbaby
    seleniumbaby Posts: 18
    It's the calories in/out that make for weight loss, rather than caffeine doing something to the metabolism. I log any milk I use, but don't bother with black tea or coffee.

    Also, I'm a 'lousy tea sucking Brit' and if really did help with weight loss, I'd be dead skinny as I drink buckets of the stuff.
    I LOL'd at that. Thanks for replying!
  • seleniumbaby
    seleniumbaby Posts: 18
    It does increase your metabolism....by like 1 or 2 calories per hour or something. Certainly not anything that is truly going to impact your weight loss.

    Eat a little less and move a little more and get your nutrition on...I've found that formula to be pretty beneficial to weight loss. Don't bother looking for short cuts...they don't really exist. All of these things you see like Tea and Coffee and eating X small meals per day or whatever really do very little...focus on what is important...that would be your energy (calorie) intake.
    Thanks for replying! I suppose if I drank bucketfuls of coffee I could burn off about a quarter teaspoon of peanut butter. ;)
  • massromanticfool
    massromanticfool Posts: 34 Member
    I noticed a positive correlation between the amount of tea and coffee I drink and how much weight I lose, but I think it's mostly because tea and coffee has replaced soda in my diet, and warm drinks tend to make me feel fuller and less likely to snack. Caffeine in and of itself doesn't do enough for your metabolism to make a difference.
  • alexandreariddle
    alexandreariddle Posts: 21 Member
    I have not really seen that it helps with weight loss other than the fact that I can drink coffee instead of soda. I drink black coffee (nothing added) so I usually can drink an 8oz cup for between 2-5 calories a cup; this is versus a 16oz soda for around 140-160 calories a can. The same is true for tea as most of the tea I drink registers at no calories at all since I don't sweeten it. Hope this helps some.

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