How Well We Sleep Really Does Affect Weight Loss
We tend to store a lot of fat around our middles if we’re exposed to high and prolonged stress. Stress comes in many different forms but their effect on our metabolisms is basically the same. If you’re disproportionately storing more fat around your lower belly, then you need to start thinking about reducing your stress levels and getting a good night’s sleep.
I Wish I May I Wish I Might Drink This Tea And Then Sleep Tight
But what if caffeinated teas are your favorite? What if you historically dont like the taste of herbal teas? Its okay! Some caffeinated teas can be very relaxing, and depending on your tolerance, that late-night caffeine boost may not affect your ability to fall asleep. There are great teas to help you relax and de-stress at the end of your day, and plenty of tasty evening teas suitable for dinnertime and beyond.
Some people swear by drinking green tea before bed as a way to wind down and promote health. Green tea has less caffeine than black tea or coffee, but there are still about 35 milligrams in each cup. If you habitually drink caffeinated beverages, 35 milligrams might not be enough to mess with your sleep, but it could possibly be enough to merit an extra trip to the bathroom. So if youre hoping for one continuous line of zzzs through the night, consider enjoying that green goodness an hour or so before nodding off, just to give yourself time for one last pitstop before bed.
If black tea is really your sweet spot, consider a in the evenings. are perfect for the black tea lover who struggles with if youll pardon the phrase wee hour weeing. All the flavor of your favorite blends without the extra burden on your bladder!
is a wonderful option. Dont let the name fool you its perfect for a late-night cuppa, with bergamot and vanilla essence enhanced by soothing lavender. If you like to start your day with a bracing Earl Grey, bookend it with a calming one.
Does Sleepytime Tea Actually Make You Sleepy
Chamomile has also been studied for its sleep-inducing effect. Its calming effects are attributed to the antioxidant in chamomile tea called apigenin,Charlotte Martin, M.S., R.D.N., says.
A short-term randomized control trial of 40 healthy adults found that those who drank a sleep tea daily for one week reported better sleep quality than those who did not drink the tea. And while science may back up the ingredients, it may also just be the act of tea drinking itself that induces the sleep.
For many people the ritual of drinking tea is relaxing, and it may cause sleepiness as a result,Keri Gans, M.S., R.D.N., says.
It can also be a great way to decompress after a nighttime workout.
An evening cardio session gets your heart rate up and releases endorphins, making it difficult to wind down at night, possibly derailing your sleep, says Martin. Drinking a sleep tea afterwards can help calm you down so that youre better able to fall and stay asleep.
Keep in mind that to get the most out of your tea, steep time is critical.
The longer you allow to steep, the stronger it is. I suggest steeping it for up to five minutes before drinking, Martin says.
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Best Organic Tea To Help You Sleep
The Tea Spot Lights Out
- Price: $$
- Key ingredients: Hibiscus, peppermint, licorice, lavender, chamomile, and valerian root
- Type: Bagged or loose
Another blend of valerian root and chamomile, this organic tea also features the bright tang of hibiscus, licorice for sweetness, and lavender for a dose of calm.
Hibiscus, an antioxidant-rich plant , offers plenty of its own health benefits. So, choosing a bedtime tea with hibiscus could improve more than just the quality of your sleep.
In general, reviewers praise this tea. People say it has plenty of flavor and a wonderful fragrance. If you dont care for licorice, dont worry a few reviewers note the taste is barely noticeable. People tend to notice the hibiscus more than anything else, but most reviewers enjoy the taste.
As for effectiveness, reviewers say this tea really does seem to put the lights out. People say they love the tea for winding down and relaxing before bedtime, and a few even say it made sleeping pills unnecessary.
Oolong Tea May Contribute To Healthier Cholesterol Levels
Have you always opted for green tea? Consider giving its cousin oolong a try. Oolong tea is a partially oxidized tea, in between black and green tea, and its concentration of polyphenols offers many health benefits, says Rahaf Al Bochi, RDN, the Atlanta-based owner of Olive Tree Nutrition and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Take, for example, oolongs potential heart health perks. One study found that drinking more than 2.5 cups of oolong tea daily was associated with lower LDL cholesterol levels, as well as a reduced risk of dyslipidemia . Other research supports oolongs impact on the heart, suggesting that drinking oolong or green tea regularly was linked to a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
Drinking oolong also shows promise in helping people maintain or achieve a healthy weight. Another small study suggested that oolong tea extract could help reduce body fat and may help prevent obesity. However, more studies on the connection between oolong tea and weight are needed.
The research in the journal Aging shows a link between oolong tea and brain health.
If green tea is a little too mild for you, consider giving oolong a try because of the extra oxidization, it has a more robust flavor.
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Lemon And Cucumber Juice
Do you notice how some restaurants serve water with slices of lemon? Drinking lemon water provides heaps of benefits, including losing stomach fat.
A study published in the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine showed that people who drank lemon juice four times a day while fasting reduced their body fat mass and improved their lipid profile.
To make your bedtime lemon drink taste better and be more effective, combine the fruit with two cucumbers, an orange, and a pitcher of water. Add honey to taste and garnish this drink with mint as well, if you like.
Why Trust The Spruce Eats
This piece was written by Derek Rose, the coffee and tea expert for The Spruce Eats. Before recommending these products, he researched the history of tea, types of tea, and tea sourcing. He also interviewed Shunan Teng, the founder and CEO of Tea Drunk and an avid tea educator, and consulted online reviews as well as our editors. His selection of Matcha Konomi Akira Organic Ceremonial Matcha was informed by researching the different grades of matcha.
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Why Herbal Teas Are A Great Choice At Night
Best pivot carefully away from any caffeinated foods and drinks come mid-afternoon to avoid sleep disturbances. Reaching for herbal teas that do not contain any caffeine is a great alternative with lots of added health benefits, too. Come take a look!
- Herbal tea is not the tea made from the Camellia Sinensis plant that gives us black, green, white, and oolong teas, but an infusion of leaves, seeds, roots or bark of various herbs.
- Drinking a well-steeped herbal tea gives you the plants benefits in an easily digestible and tasty form and may help you wind down, provide a hydrating boost before bed and even help clear toxins as well.
The Best Tea To Drink Before Bed
Obviously, you dont want to intake a lot of caffeine before you go to sleep , so if youre going to have tea before bed, youll want something with very little to no caffeine. Choose a natural tea to help you relax and de-stress before you sleep. Herbal teas that contain no caffeine like chamomile or peppermint are great choices. Many companies make teas specific for helping you fall to sleep and sleep better. Theyre often called sleepy tea or nighttime tea and have no caffeine and ingredients that help you relax and fall to sleep.
- The 4 best bedtime teas are:
- Chamomile tea is one of the best teas for bedtime because it is a caffeine-free and contains sleep-inducing ingredients. Its also known to help decrease anxiety.
- Green tea contains theanine, which can help you feel calm at bedtime. However, regular green tea does contain caffeine, so be careful if youre sensitive to it.
- Peppermint tea is another great herbal tea option for nighttime drinking. It has little to no caffeine and can help settle your stomach, too.
- Lavender tea helps with relaxation and falling to sleep. Lavender in general can be beneficial at night, both when you ingest it and when you smell itlavender tea is great before bed to help you unwind and relax and can also improve sleep when diffused as an essential oil or sprayed in your room at night.
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How Chamomile Can Help You Lose Weight
The way chamomile aids in weight loss is not necessarily direct. It involves a cascade of physiological processes that can eventually help you lose weight.
As we just discussed, chamomile tea is a potent sleep enhancer. It helps you sleep better and prolongs the duration of your sleep time.
During sleep, the body produces a hormone called serotonin. This hormone is an appetite suppressant and works to reduce hunger pangs when you wake up.
Studies have also shown that chamomile counteracts the effects of cortisol – a stress hormone that reduces metabolism while increasing appetite for junk food.
This mechanism is what makes chamomile a great remedy for stress.
When taken in adequate amounts, chamomile encourages active metabolism and active breakdown of body fats, which goes a long way in getting your waistline back in shape.
Besides increasing the levels of serotonin and decreasing production of cortisol, chamomile has also been shown to stimulate the production of digestive juices.
While gastric juices may not directly cause weight loss, they characteristically increase the metabolic process and aid in the breakdown of essential nutrients and elimination of waste products.
Rooibos And Honeybush Tea
Rooibos and Honeybush are wonderfully gentle teas used for generations in South Africa to help people sleep.
Naturally caffeine free and full-bodied with a sweet nutty finish, rooibos tea has become very popular around the world for its unique taste, numerous health benefits and variety of flavours. Honeybush tea is made from a related shrub and is a little lighter and more floral than rooibos and is named for its delightfully honeyed aroma.
These teas both come from the coastal Cederberg mountains of the Cape. Unlike normal herbal teas which are dried, these are oxidised much like black tea which gives a rich, deep flavour without any bitterness. You can drink this tea with or without milk so it is perfect for black tea drinkers. Plus, it is naturally caffeine free rather than decaffeinated, and therefore hasnt undergone the chemical processing used to make decaf teas.
High in antioxidants and low in tannins, rooibos tea is often said to have a relaxant effect on the body, without being a sedative. There is ongoing research into the health benefits of rooibos, especially its impact on heart health and diabetes, as well as weight loss and stress. For an extra strong cup some people use two tea bags just steep in boiled water and leave for 10 minutes. You can also add a dash of honey for extra sweetness.
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Pukka Herbs Night Time Organic Herbal Tea With Valerian
Pukka Herbs Night Time is an organic herbal tea with valerian root. The caffeine-free, ethically sourced, 100% organic tea contains oat flowering tops, licorice root, chamomile flower, lavender flower, lime flower, valerian root, and green Rama tulsi leaf. It has a sweet, light flavor. Like all the Pukka teas, Night Time tea comes in plastic-free teabags, each with two chambers to give the organic herbs and essential oils ample room to fully bloom and maximize their potency. As such, Pukka Herbs Night Time tea should steep for a whileabout 15 minutes for the perfect cup.
The Best Teas For Energy Digestion Sleep And More
Tea is the second most widely consumed beverage in the world , according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. While coffee drinking overshadows tea consumption in the United States, the Tea Association of the U.S.A. reports that 80 percent of American households have some form of tea in the cupboard, and more than 159 million Americans drink it on a daily basis.
With these impressive stats, its no wonder that new brands of tea and tea blends are constantly popping up on store shelves. A quick for types of teas returns an overwhelming 20+ selections, and that doesnt even include the many different flavors.
Almost 80 percent of US households have some form of tea in the cupboard.
While the sheer magnitude of tea options may be overwhelming, the good news is that many studies suggest that tea is a generally healthy beverage especially if you’re using it to replace sugary beverages or fight the midnight munchies. But some of the touted benefits should be taken with a grain of salt: Many believe that drinking green tea can help you shed pounds or lower stress levels, but both claims are a bit exaggerated. No tea alone will shrink your waistline , and the calming effects have only been observed when drinking caffeine-free green tea.
Instead of wandering down the tea aisle dazed and confused, try these sips for their science-backed benefits.
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A Final Word On Cooking With Tea
One last hot tip: Whatever you decide to brew, keep in mind that drinking tea is a great way to reap the benefits of plants in your diet, says Retelny. So dont discard any leftover tea that you couldnt finish. Use this glorious liquid to make quinoa, brown rice, or couscous the cooked grains will absorb whatever plant compounds are present in the tea, says Retelny. You can also baste chicken, fish, or tenderloin cuts of meat with a homemade marinade using green tea combined with olive oil, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic, Retelny suggests: The possibilities are endless with tea!
Davids Teas Mothers Little Helper
This loose leaf tea has an intense minty, citrusy, and medicinal flavor, which honestly just comes with the sleepy time territory. The valerian root is in full effect. As mentioned earlier, it fucked me up in the office, so I save this one for seriously stressful nights, like, say, when you know you need to write a long story about tea the next morning and have really procrastinated. The scent is pleasant but also very strong, so I store this tea away from other teas lest they all start smelling like lemongrass.
Verdict: Seriously snoozy and will get you ready for a good nights sleepbut not subtle in flavor. Doctor it up with honey to cut through the bitterness.
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Can It Relieve Stress
Yes, absolutely! Similar to the calming effects that tea has on people suffering from anxiety and depression, the ritualistic nature of making and enjoying a cup or two will help your stress levels as well.
Its been documented that sitting down to have a cup of tea signals the end of a stressful period or activity, which also helps. Also surprising is that people report that having the beverage made for them also reduces stress because it causes them to feel nurtured and cared for.
Bedtime Drinks That Burn Stomach Fat
The road to losing weight, specifically stomach fat, can be such a discouraging process, especially when you have to deal with stubborn belly fat. But it is possible to trim off a muffin top even while you sleep. We want to share several bedtime drinks that will help burn stomach fat faster:
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How Chamomile Can Soothe Your Digestive Tract
If youve been using chamomile for some time now, you may have noticed its detox effects.
It has one of the highest densities of antioxidants among herbs, helping rid the body of toxic free radicals.
Studies have shown that chamomile has some antidiarrheal protection as well due to its anti-inflammatory properties.
An apple-pectin-chamomile extract has been shown to not only alleviate symptoms of diarrhea but also shorten its course.
Anotherstudyevaluating the effects of chamomile when treating diarrhea concluded that it was effective in about 85% of the cases.
Yet another animal-based study revealed that chamomile is protective against stomach ulcers as well.
These studies propose that chamomile inhibits the growth of helicobacter pylori a bacteria commonly associated with stomach ulcers. The extract also reduces stomach acidity.
Besides scientific studies, anecdotal evidence also supports the ability of chamomile to soothe the digestive tract.
Traditionally, it has long been the go-to herbal remedy for disorders of the digestive system such as nausea and bloating.
Although these findings are noteworthy, none of them guarantee that you will experience the same results. More studies need to be done to help substantiate the health benefits of chamomile for digestion, diarrhea, and more.