Polyphenols
Tea Polyphenols
Polyphenols and Weight Loss
Do you hear “tea polyphenols,” and think of an insignificant ingredient on a label of nutritional facts? Tea polyphenols are not something you hear about every day, but they should be. Tea polyphenols are what make Okuma’s Wu-Long tea stand high above the rest. With their powerful positive effects on your overall health, tea polyphenols are worth a second glance.
Go into any bookstore and what topics dominate the magazine covers? Losing weight and getting healthy – because that’s what most of us want and need to do. Losing weight and getting healthy is not just to fit into your skinny jeans or to get ready for summer, which will be here before we know it. It’s our desire to have healthy bodies and avoid many of the statistics surrounding obesity, heart disease, and cancer.
Just as more of us are turning to Mother Nature to help reach our health and weight loss goals, so are many doctors and researchers, who have found a diamond in the rough – tea polyphenols – which is being studied for its affects on resolving many health issues. They are finding a connection between polyphenols and weight loss. This powerful antioxidant provides a holistic, natural way to shed pounds while addressing several illnesses, including cardiovascular heart disease and certain cancers1.
What Are Tea Polyphenols Anyway?
Widely studied for more than a decade, compounds of polyphenols are found in many plant forms, including tea, wine, nuts, fruits and vegetables. They’re responsible for the brightly colored pigment of many fruits and vegetables, but it is the level of polyphenols that makes the difference.
Polyphenol content is the highest in the leaves of a plant, which is why tea, including Oolong, green, black and white tea, has received so much acclaim. Containing 10 times the antioxidants found in many fruits and vegetables, the subclass of tea polyphenols is flavonoids, which is the most potent of the plant antioxidants.
The Benefits of Tea Polyphenols
Tea polyphenols boost your immune system.
Tea polyphenols protect tea plants from diseases, and they do the same within the human body when consumed. These antioxidants go to work neutralizing free radicals, the toxins within our bodies caused by stress hormones, pollution, and other nasty elements from our environment. Tea polyphenols, or flavonoids, scavenge for those oxidants and take them out before they can cause cellular damage.
Tea polyphenols are linked to disease prevention.
With cases of cancer on the rise, tea polyphenols have garnered a lot of attention because of their powerful ability to protect cell membranes and prevent cellular DNA damage, which has been linked to reducing the risk of certain cancers.
Polyphenols and Weight Loss
The high levels of tea polyphenols in Oolong tea have also been studied as an aid to another health epidemic: obesity. Polyphenols and weight loss are actually linked. According to the International Journal on Obesity3, Oolong tea inhibits intestinal absorption of fat and can be used as an effective aid in weight loss, which could contribute to reducing the risk of obesity.
This is one of a number of studies that shows the natural weight loss power of tea polyphenols in Oolong tea. Another by the University Tokushima School of Medicine concluded that Oolong tea restricted fat and carbohydrate absorption while revving up energy metabolism3 .
With zero calories, this makes Wu-Long tea a fantastic and healthier alternative to diet sodas, and a powerful tool for aiding you in your weight loss goals.
If all this wasn’t enough, the tea polyphenols in Oolong tea have shown to be effective in providing various other health benefits including:
- Lowering plasma glucose in type 2 diabetic patients
- Reducing LDL cholesterol
- Lowering blood pressure
- Reducing bacteria that causes gum disease
- Clearing skin
- Reducing hair loss
Oolong tea specifically has approximately half the caffeine and double the amounts of tea polyphenols in comparison to other teas, like green tea, because of its fermentation process. Wu-Long tea, through Okuma’s proprietary semi-fermentation process produces an even higher amount of tea polyphenols.
Experience the health benefits of tea polyphenols with Okuma’s Wu-Long tea products. Try it and love it, or your money back. If you have any questions about Okuma’s Wu-Long tea products, visit our FAQs or feel free to contact us for more information. Our friendly and knowledgeable customer service representatives are happy to assist you.
References
1. Shawn M. Talbott, Kerry Hughes, The Health Guide to Dietary Supplements, SupplementWatch, 2008.
2. L-K Han, T Takaku, J Li, Y Kimura1 and H Okuda, Anti-obesity action of oolong tea, International Journal of Obesity, 1999, 23:98105.
3. T. Komatsu, M Nakamori (Univ. Tokushima School Of Medicine, Tokushima, Jpn), K Komatsu (Fukuoka Prefecture Univ., Fukuoka, Jpn) et al, Oolong tea increases energy metabolism in Japanese females, J Med Invest, 2003, G0657A.