Weight loss teas are everywhere, promoted by every reality TV star, Instagram celebrity, and pretty much everyone else who is famous for being famous. They are promoting weight loss teas that contain questionable ingredients, influencing their young and impressionable fans by touting products they claim to take everyday, when in fact they probably didn’t know it existed until someone shoved it in their hands and snapped their picture.
Of course, everyone has to make money and this is just the way that many online celebrities pay the bills. What they are doing is not illegal and while the weight loss teas they are promoting are not always what they seem, they are not breaking the law either.
The problem is, some of these teas put all of their time and effort into marketing and ignore the product itself.
We put thousands of hours into developing DetoxOrganics because that’s what it takes to create an effective superfood powder that is safe and worthy of your money and trust. But many of the slimming teas that litter the marketplace have spent more time trying to go viral than creating the actual product they are asking their customers to consume.
We just don’t think that is acceptable, and it’s time to expose some of the worrying truths about these teas.
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What follows is a list of 5 surprising things that you probably didn’t know about the weight loss and detox tea industry. In all cases we’re using real examples of real products, but because we don’t want to discredit the companies making these products we’re going to avoid mentioning actual blends and manufacturers.
The onus is on you, the consumer, to take this information, use it to educate yourself, and then check the ingredients label of every so-called weight loss tea or detox tea that you drink.
1. They Are Loaded with Laxatives
One of the dirtiest tricks of the weight-loss tea industry involves the use of laxatives. These teas are starting to attract scorn from customers so they are not as common as they were a year or two ago, but they still exist and they are still being purchased in significant quantities.
The main laxative used in these teas is senna leaf. This is an all natural laxative that works by stimulating the bowel. It is effective, but only as a laxative.
It will help you to drop some ounces on the scale because it will speed the transition of waste through your bowel, but this weight loss will be temporary, you won’t lose any fat, and if you drink this product every day—many weight loss teas are created to be consumed daily—you run the risk of developing side effects such as diarrhea, stomach cramps, and a reliance on laxatives.
Some of the most popular slimming teas on the market include senna in addition to rhubarb root, aloe and castor oil, ingredients that also act as laxatives. It’s akin to taking Ex Lax everyday and expecting to burn fat—it’s just not going to happen.
These teas are misleading you and potentially putting your health and wellbeing at risk.
2. They Contain Diuretics
Many of the slimming teas that don’t contain laxatives tend to be loaded with diuretics. In fact, some of the laxative-heavy teas also contain diuretics, turning them into a double-threat that will strip your body of waste and water, but will also leave you exposed to a host of side effects in the process.
The most common natural diuretics used in these teas are dandelion root, horsetail, nettle root and licorice root. On their own, and when used in moderation, these herbs are very healthy. Dandelion root in particular has been linked with all kinds of positive benefits, and may even help to prevent or fight cancer. It’s why we use a high quality extract in DetoxOrganics.
When they are all used in the same product and that product is consumed in excess, however, then it becomes a problem. Not only do they drastically increase the risk of serious side effects in pregnant women, but the fact that they can increase blood pressure and deplete potassium and sodium levels means they can be dangerous even in otherwise healthy individuals.
More importantly, when these herbs are used to excess in product labelled as a “weight loss” tea it is a sign that the company behind that product is out to rip you off. They know that when you drink several cups of this tea a day you will pee more, riding your body of excess water, which in turn will reduce the numbers on the scale.
As soon as the program ends, that water weight will return, everything will be for nothing and you won’t have lost a single ounce of fat. But those temporary benefits will leave you felling that the tea worked, and that’s what these companies want.
In other words, they don’t care that their products don’t work as long as you think they do—and to hell with the dangers and potential side effects.
3. It’s Mostly Just Tea
There are weight-loss teas out there that do not contain laxatives or diuretics. We have more respect for these than anything else in this niche, but there is a degree of overselling here as well because most of them are just basic tea blends.
Several tea companies have launched “weight loss” teas that contain a mixture of green, black, white and oolong tea. Some of them also add Rooibos. When they put all of these together they are able to create a list of ingredients that looks both natural and exotic, a list of ingredients that seems to offer good value for money and seemingly shows that the company has done some research on creating a synergistic blend.
In actual fact, you’d be better off with a cup of 100% green tea or matcha tea. Most of the positive studies on tea and weight loss concern green tea and matcha tea and there is nothing to suggest that combining these teas into a single blend provides any additional weight loss benefits.
It’s all down to marketing. A company can’t launch a product that is only green tea, charge a premium price and market it as a “slimming tea”. The general public is not that stupid, and we’re pretty sure the FTC would have something to say about it as well. They can, however, add several teas together in order to create a “unique” blend, give it a name that has weight loss or detox connotations and then charge a premium.
So that’s exactly what they do. They are sacrificing the efficacy of the product by essentially watering down the best ingredient, but in doing so they can sell more, charge more, and get more customers.
Conclusion: Drink Normal Tea
By all means experiment with herbal teas and with green, black and white tea. They are loaded with antioxidants, they possess anti-inflammatory properties and they can help to form part of a natural, organic, healthy diet.
If you’re undertaking a weight loss program then regular consumption of tea can keep your nutrient levels high and ensure you’re properly hydrated. And if there is something to the belief that green tea can have a impact on weight loss, then you may also be a few pounds lighter after several weeks or months.
Just don’t expect these teas to be the magic bullet that many companies claim them to be. A true weight loss product needs to address all areas of your health, from nutrient levels to optimum digestive health and overall wellbeing. That’s the way DetoxOrganics was formulated—and there are no laxatives or excessive doses of diuretics in sight.
By consuming DetoxOrganics as part of a healthy lifestyle you’ll see far better long-term results than any slimming tea can offer you. And most importantly, those results will come without feelings of fatigue, and without the headaches and migraines associated with dehydration or the diarrhea and cramping associated with excessive laxative use.
It’s safer, it’s cleaner, it’s better for you, and you know that when you lose weight it will be fat and not water. So get your tub of DetoxOrganics today!