Green Tea: Good or Bad?

adamsonam
adamsonam Posts: 127
edited October 2 in Health and Weight Loss
I have always heard that green tea helps to boost your metabolism and is a great help loosing weight. I have lost 30 lbs in 3 months before and that was all I drank. At the time I had just started a new job in a factory that kept me very active and I didn't eat very much because it was all 3rd shift which I had never done before. Not healthy, I know but I was able to pretty much keep it off until I get pregnant. Now I am in a clerical job where I sit on my behind much of my day. I have a decent walk to start my day to get the info I need but then the rest of my day is at my computer.

I drink 42oz of Arizona green tea now but it has about 350 calories in those 42ozs. The rest of my liquids are water. So my question is: is this good or should I cut these calories out and stick to just water?? I apparently have really crappy metabolism so anything to help I fall for.

Thanks for any advice!!
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Replies

  • amy_p
    amy_p Posts: 82
    I think tea is great for you. I drink it hot every day. However, I wouldn't drink the bottled teas, as they have unnecessary calories. You can make a pitcher of iced tea at home and not only save a bunch of money, but save all those calories! Pick up a refillable bottle and you're good to go :-)
  • Kirsty_UK
    Kirsty_UK Posts: 964 Member
    350 cals?! :noway:
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,716 Member
    I drink diet green tea with blueberry and pomegranate flavoring. I think Swiss makes it. They sell it in gallon jugs. It's delicious and 15 calories a serving. I recommend it.
  • jstewmo
    jstewmo Posts: 13
    Green tea is good but I would aim for the sugar free types. Those Arizona drinks are addicting but not necessarily good for you.
  • slay0r
    slay0r Posts: 669 Member
    I use chinese green tea and there's about 6 calories a drink. Get on it, very good for you! I feel great the next day when I have 5, it flushes you out very nicely and it does help your metabolism burn more, I definitely noticed the difference! Good luck!
  • crobinson53
    crobinson53 Posts: 164
    There are also Green Tea Extract supplements.I take this one: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/now/gtea.htm
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
    If you just buy green tea leaves and brew it, it's about zero calories. Tastes good and is healthy for you.

    I have some great green tea at work and I just put leaves in a mug just enough to cover the bottom. Then add hot water and let it sit for a couple of minutes until I pour it to another cup, leaving the leaves to the first one. I can use the same leaves the whole working day! I drink about 4-5 cups a day.
  • adamsonam
    adamsonam Posts: 127
    I was wondering about those too. Thanks for the info!
  • adamsonam
    adamsonam Posts: 127
    Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think once I finish the bottles I already have I will be cutting this particular version. May try some of the supplements instead. Making my own tea I always end up adding lots of sweetner or something to it so I try to stay away from that.
  • XFitMojoMom
    XFitMojoMom Posts: 3,255 Member
    real green tea = good, arizona = bad. Full of crap!
    great article on green tea http://graemethomasonline.com/going-green-for-rapid-weight-loss/
  • whatwentwrong
    whatwentwrong Posts: 228
    could you maybe brew some tea at home and bring it in instead of buying bottled tea? even better, invest in an iced tea maker- it takes about 5 minutes and comes out perfectly, i swear by mine. then you could add a bit of sugar, honey, or your favorite artificial sweetener (stevia is the only one that tastes decent to me), and bottle it up and bring it in. not only will it be better for you, it will taste better AND be cheaper in the long run :D
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
    Good grief!!!! 350 cals?!? Just get green tea bags or leaves for 4 cals a cup. I used to drink a lot of green tea and think the metabolism raising gubbins is quite a lot of hot air, but it keeps you from drinking bad stuff instead so it helps keep the pounds off in a roud a bout way!!

    Personally I love roibos tea - which is also naturally caffeine free. xx
  • Quaters
    Quaters Posts: 85 Member
    i love that green tea as well but that is a waste of calories, i now have water with a dash of lo cal lemon cordial that way i drink more water,keep up the good work.
  • SRH7
    SRH7 Posts: 2,037 Member
    In the UK I've only ever seen the calorie-free teabags, which you can get in every supermarket. I absolutely love it and it's all I drink during the day at work. Even better, if you have a Chinese supermarket near you you can buy monster-sized boxes with weird and wonderful names and packaging and blended with other tea such as mint or jasmine. They are really fragrant and very cheap.

    It's when you start adding stuff such as sugar and fake flavourings that it no longer becomes healthy living-friendly.
  • katinka13
    katinka13 Posts: 41
    organic green tea freshly and properly brewed is really great for your matabolism. but don't drink it in the evening, makes you an insomniac!!
    the arizona stuff is full of sugar like soda, so not very good for you. but very yummy though :(
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
    Heavens!
    Do people really add sugar and sweeteners to green tea?!

    Really! Green tea and sugar don't go together!
    It kills all flavor of the tea! An abomination!

    Anyway, if it always gets bitter, you probably brew it wrong.. Too hot water or too long brewing time.
    I never learned to brew it right, but my way I get it drinkable pretty easily. Perhaps because of that, getting to drink the real deal is always such a near extatic experience. It's so rare around here!

    Aah.. I need to get some sencha and learn to do it right at last..

    But first, off to bed! Good night, people!
  • carey1932
    carey1932 Posts: 55 Member
    I make fresh green tea daily using Celestial Seasoning Rasberry Garden Green Tea bags. I heat 2 min in microwave & pour over ice & sweeten with either Sun Crystals or Splenda. Can make it by the glass or by the pitcher.
  • KayteeBear
    KayteeBear Posts: 1,040 Member
    Green tea is very good for you...but not the bottled types. They add too much sugar and crap to it. I like to throw a green tea bag or two into a pitcher of water for a few minutes and drink cold green tea like that.
  • SoCalSwimmerDude
    SoCalSwimmerDude Posts: 507 Member
    My green tea is 0 cals and not diet or anything like that. Real green tea comes in a little tea packet of herbs/leaves or the actual leaves. I have 1-2 mugs a day while at work.

    I honestly didn't even know that companies made green tea in an unhealthy manner.

    For 350 cals, I'd rather 1.19 slices of pizza.
  • kyle4jem
    kyle4jem Posts: 1,400 Member
    I have always heard that green tea helps to boost your metabolism and is a great help loosing weight.
    <snip>
    I apparently have really crappy metabolism so anything to help I fall for.

    Thanks for any advice!!
    My advice... find some real Green tea to enjoy... not any pre-processed drink with additives. :sick:

    Green Tea isn't a magic elixir that melts away the fat... yes the Chinese believe it has homeopathic and cleansing properties, which may or may not be the case, but it's a plesant beverage drunk hot or chilled. :tongue:

    The only thing that boosts metabolism is exercise, i.e increasing your heart rate and getting your lungs working. Most fat people blame their weight problem metabolism. I know, I did too, but most people's metabolism lies within normal parameters.

    The only sure-fire way to losing weight and maintaining a healthy, balanced way of life is to accept a very simple fact:

    We eat too much and we don't exercise enough. :noway:

    Portion control, posterial displacement and a positive attitude ... i.e. cut the Calories, move that *kitten* and for goodness sake, Enjoy Life :bigsmile:
  • razzyjazz
    razzyjazz Posts: 119 Member
    My sister lost 110 pounds 2 years ago. She would take a green tea pill once a day. She swears by them.
  • lexgem
    lexgem Posts: 163
    I brew mine myself from tea leaves and it's really good for you. My one concern is do NOT drink it at the same time or right before/after meals or your prenatal vitamins, because doing so won't allow your body to assimilate the iron. This is especially important for pregnant women.
  • Crystleen
    Crystleen Posts: 81 Member
    I have an Iced Tea maker. Love it! You can get them for like $20. I drink iced green tea everyday!
  • amylyork
    amylyork Posts: 11 Member
    I brew my green tea in an old coffee pot. I stick it in the fridge and then take my pitcher to work. I can fill my reusable bottle all day long.
  • sugarbone
    sugarbone Posts: 454 Member
    Just boil hot water and add a green tea bag. Arizona teas and most other bottled teas are filled with 100% unnecessary junk. Real green tea has zero sugar, fat, calories, nothing... and a higher concentration of antioxidants.
  • Michelle_M2002
    Michelle_M2002 Posts: 301 Member
    Anything bottled is going to have additives in it. Green tea is very healthy for you, but your best bet is to buy organic green tea and make your own, and then just put it in the fridge and pour into your re-usable bottle. It'll have WAY fewer calories and be better for you because it won't have the added preservatives and junk.

    God bless!
  • crikee15
    crikee15 Posts: 155 Member
    Heavens!
    Do people really add sugar and sweeteners to green tea?!

    Really! Green tea and sugar don't go together!
    It kills all flavor of the tea! An abomination!

    HAHAHAHAHAHHA, that was my exact reaction when I got to college and offered green tea to people who came over. I'd brew the tea, hand it to them, and then they asked for milk and sugar. I was completely floored the first time it happened.
  • keiraev
    keiraev Posts: 695 Member
    I've never known green tea to have anything other than zero cals?!
  • littlemili
    littlemili Posts: 625 Member
    Green tea is good for you. However, what you are drinking is not green tea.
  • TenderBranson
    TenderBranson Posts: 114 Member
    Hate to break it to you but AZ Iced Tea is a terrible drink. High in sugar & tons of cals.

    Brew your own green tea or get your self some real UNSWEETENED tea. I like Honest Tea's just green tea. I like it with a little lemon but if you absolutely need sweetness you can add a sweetnlo/splenda.
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