Why is tea so special and why should I use it to detox? Take the time to read this page, and we're pretty sure you will be amazed!
Our unique blend of teas and botanical herbs has been specifically made to assist detoxification as quickly as possible.
There are three magic ingredients present in tea that work synergistically to influence your body's metabolic and nervous system. Each ingredient in our blend has a degree of efficiency in helping the body become healthier, but it is the combination of the ingredients together that really gives Newport Skinny Tea its cleansing punch. Tea, alone, is really a miracle plant which is made by nature not by chemicals. Study after study shows the role tea plays in keeping us healthy and it is significant. The other herbal ingredients are equally as impressive, but perhaps less studied and common, than tea, information about them can be found on the ingredient benefits page.
The three ingredients that are present in green and black teas from the Camellia Sinensis plant are caffeine, L-theanine and epigallocatchin-3-gallate (EGCG).
Caffeine: Naturally found in over 60 plants, is present to defend their leaves from insects. Caffeine can be detrimental to our health if we consume too much of it, and the form and amount found in tea is much easier on our bodies that that found in coffee or cocoa. It is a natural stimulant that has been shown to boost the process of thermogenesis, which is the generation of body heat. This process is exactly what we want to happen to lose weight, and what we accomplish by things like exercise. Thermogenesis is at the center of weight loss and numerous studies confirm that caffeine increases energy expenditure and thus helps us lose pounds. Green tea caffeine is very different from caffeine found in coffee and diet pills however, because it uniquely produces increased thermogenesis without raising the heart rate, as confirmed in a 1999 AJCN study. Working in conjunction with L-theanine and EGCG, this makes tea much more gentle on our cardiovascular system and also it is less harsh to our nervous system and therefore does not stimulate the appetite like coffee does (more on this later).
L-theanine: Part of the difference of tea from other stimulants is the presence of L-theanine, which is a non-protein based amino acid. Tea is the only plant in the world besides one obscure mushroom that can produce L-theanine. What makes it so special is that most stimulants put our brains into a beta wave state, which is what you're in during fight or flight and thus make your body produce a host more of dangerous hormones like cortisol to deal with this perceived danger. L-theanine enters the blood stream from the small intestine just minutes after you start drinking tea and then into the brain where it stimulates alpha brain waves, which produce a state of relaxed and effortless alertness, thus cancelling out the harmful effects the caffeine was having on the brain. Since the caffeine does have a head start on the L-theanine, you will get a small wake up blast first and then after a few minutes the tea will calm you down and make you pleasantly alert, you will skip all the palpitations and jitters you can get from coffee or pills and get all the energy and benefits you are used to when you consume those substances. Studies have found long-term tea drinking causes you to physiologically become better at recovery from stress and to more quickly recover from it, which reduces your cortisol levels and makes you less likely to store fat in your belly.
EGCG: EGCG is a chemical compound known as a catechin, a subclass of polyphenols, compounds known for their anti-oxidant properties. Anti-oxidants act as free radical police, quenching the free radical before it can damage our healthy cells, which is especially important when we are exercising more and producing more free radicals. Along with the other 2 tea compounds listed above, EGCG is a potent factor in stimulating weight loss. Studies show that EGCG markedly inhibits enzymes in the pancreas that help to digest fat, which means we have reduced fat digestion. The higher the catechin level, the more benefit you get from this enzyme activity and the more weight you lose. Studies also show there is a specific synergistic interaction between EGCG and caffeine that further promotes energy expenditure. EGCG also cleanses the blood of additional triglycerides (fats) before they are deposited as adipose (fat) tissue. This action is especially helpful during a detox where you are primarily trying to clean your fat of stored toxins, it makes the process much more comfortable. Because this action clears your arteries and veins of excess triglycerides , you get more oxygen into your blood and thus more energy and burn more calories. This also means, you just burn more calories, even while you're sitting still!
Another amazing benefit EGCG produces in the body is a bit more complicated, but equally relevant to detoxing while gaining more energy. Studies have shown EGCG reduces insulin production by inhibiting glutamate drogenase (GDH). Why are insulin levels so important for weight loss? Because insulin plays a major roll in weight gain and energy expenditure. We get most of our energy from carbohydrates, which are digested and broken down into glucose, or blood sugar. When blood sugar levels rise, insulin begins to do it's job, which is to escort blood sugar into the liver and muscles where it's turned into glycogen and waits to be burned as energy. If there is more blood sugar than there is cell storage space, the excess is converted to fat.
If you are consistently subjecting your cells to carbohydrate overload and your body is storing too much blood sugar as fat, the sensors in your cells that are normally receptive to insulin begin to shut down. The body continues to produce insulin, but can no longer utilize it efficiently or effectively. So you have insulin being produced with no use other than telling your body to burn less fat and store more fat; this is commonly referred to as insulin resistance. This process happens more dramatically and quickly with man-made substances like high fructose corn syrup and processed foods, not from fruits and vegetables.
At this point, you are in a vicious cycle. When you are overweight fat cells inhibit the release of glucose for energy because you have too much insulin. Because glucose is not being used for energy, it is locked into its storage space in the cell, and no more can get in. When more carbohydrates are consumed, and more glucose and insulin are produced, there is nowhere for them to go, so the glucose is turned into fat that in turn inhibits the use of glucose- and it becomes harder and harder to lose weight because your body has become an automatic fat-producer. The more tea you drink, the lower the insulin level in your body.
Since drinking tea makes insulin more effective, it does have a role in preventing or delaying or possibly reversing type 2 diabetes, so far this has not been conclusively proven. However, it is imperative that if you are on diabetes medication you work with your doctor closely because drinking tea will affect your sensitivity to insulin.