Green, black, white or oolong (wu yi) tea are all highly beneficial to health, so what makes wu yi tea so special? All tea is derived from a plant called Camellia sinensis. The only difference is the way it is processed after harvesting.

There are other products that are called tea, but they are not all real tea. Herbal teas are blends of herbs that are sometimes beneficial to health, but other “teas” are merely drinks flavored like tea and then sweetened with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), flavorings or sugar.

Phytochemicals in tea are the components that protect the tea plant from damage due to free radicals and disease. They have factors such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capabilities that protect the plant at the cellular level and promote regeneration and healing. When you drink tea or eat plants that are not overly processed, you also benefit from these amazing phytochemicals.

The phytochemicals work at the cellular level in the body. They fight free radicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis in the form of carcinogens, chemical toxins, the sun, pollutants and even the foods we eat. Free radicals are negatively charged. When free radicals either enter the body or are produced during digestion, they begin seeking out molecules so they can steal an electron and become neutral.

Unfortunately, by stealing this electron from another molecule in your body, they have now created another free radical and so on and so forth. All of this creates oxidative stress in your body and it begins to break down cell membranes and mutate genetic material inside the cells. This leads to the breakdown of tissue, which leads to organ malfunction (all be it subtle in the beginning), which leads to organ systems not operating efficiently.

When this occurs, you may experience frequent illnesses, premature aging and the beginnings of various disease processes.

So, back to wu yi tea. All tea contains phytochemicals which are capable of counteracting the ill effects of free radicals. They are also showing promising results in the weight loss industry. For one, tea is a zero calorie beverage (so long as you don’t add anything to it), and this can be very powerful by replacing high-calorie beverages such as soda. Even diet soda has been implicated in obesity due to its ability to increase your cravings for sweets.

Tea can also rev up your metabolism and help your body burn more fat. This is especially true if you exercise. Tea can boost fat burning after you have exercised.

Wu yi tea and green tea contain more phytochemicals than black tea because they are not fermented as long. Green tea, however, has a somewhat earthy taste whereas wu yi has a flavor more akin to black tea. For this reason, you may be more apt to drink wu yi tea. White tea has very delicate flavor, but it may not be as powerful as green or wu yi tea in the fat burning arena.

Though diet and exercise are important, simply drinking a few mugs of wu yi tea per day may boost your weight loss efforts.

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