Green tea generally gets a good rap for its weight loss results, but there’s another herb that has benefits that are just as effective.
Black tea targets fat, too, according to a new report.
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Researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles recently conducted an experiment, published in the European Journal of Nutrition, to determine the difference between the health benefits of black and green teas.
To do so, they examined mice, separating them into four diet categories: a high-fat, high-sugar diet; a high-fat, high-sugar diet supplemented with green tea extract; a high-fat, high-sugar diet supplemented with black tea extract; and a low-fat, high-sugar diet.
After four weeks, they examined their results and found that the mice who had the green and black extracts lost the same amount of weight as those who had the low-fat diet.
The scientists then took a look at the intestines of the animals to measure bacteria and inspected the liver to measure fat deposits.
Mice who consumed the black and grean teas had less of the bacteria associated with the obesity and more of the bacteria linked with lean body mass.
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However, only those that consumed the black tea had more Pseudobutyrivibrio, a bacteria that could help explain the difference between how black tea and green tea change energy metabolism, scientists say.
"It was known that green tea polyphenols are more effective and offer more health benefits than black tea polyphenols since green tea chemicals are absorbed into the blood and tissue," said lead author Susanne Henning in a statement. "Our new findings suggest that black tea, through a specific mechanism through the gut microbiome, may also contribute to good health and weight loss in humans."
Researchers believe both teas have more than antioxidant benefits but gut microbiome ones, too.
"For black tea lovers,” Henning said, “there may be a new reason to keep drinking it."
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