Green Tea and Weight Loss. It's NOT A Diet
With the New Year in full swing, conversations across America are buzzing with talk of diets, fads, and quick fixes. From detox teas to extreme resolutions, the wellness world becomes especially noisy in January. But I have some different thoughts about all that.
Diets? I’m completely against them.
It was my brother, who works in preventative health, who first taught me why diets so often fail. And after years of motherhood, five beautiful children, and my own weight loss journeys, I can tell you from experience that real change only happened when I embraced new habits, not when I tried to “diet.”
A diet is temporary. It’s something people dread, knuckle through, and celebrate finishing only to find themselves back at the start. For me, transformation came when I started building a way of living that I actually liked. That included how I ate, how I moved, how I rested, and yes, what I sipped.
That’s where green tea comes in.
After having my fifth child, I started brewing green tea regularly. I kept pitchers of green tea in the fridge, drank it cold or hot depending on my mood, and made it a part of my everyday rhythm. This was long before I started a tea business or became a sommelier.
Sometimes, it’s not about what green tea adds, but what it replaces.
I can’t say green tea caused weight loss, because it doesn’t work like that. But I can say that it supported my wellness goals, gave me energy, and helped regulate habits that made a difference over time.
Now, with the Green Tea Practice, I want to share what I’ve learned, both from experience and from science, about how this ancient brew can support your body, especially in a season where health is on everyone’s mind.
What Green Tea Actually Does for Wellness and Weight Support:
Green tea isn’t a magic solution, but it can support conditions that make healthy weight regulation more sustainable when paired with lifestyle changes.
It contains antioxidants called catechins, especially EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), which help support metabolic processes, essentially encouraging your body to use fat more efficiently as fuel.
Green tea does contain caffeine, but far less than coffee, and it’s paired with L-theanine, an amino acid that promotes calm alertness. This combination helps you feel energized without feeling wired, and it may even help reduce stress. Since chronic stress (and the cortisol it produces) is closely tied to weight gain and stubborn fat storage, anything that gently lowers that load can be a gift.
Green tea also helps regulate blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity, two crucial factors when it comes to energy levels and cravings. And here’s something people often overlook: the act of replacing high-calorie or sugary drinks with green tea makes a real difference. Sometimes, it’s not about what green tea adds, but what it replaces.
Ultimately, green tea isn’t about dieting. It’s about ritual. It’s about giving your body something nourishing, steady, and grounding. It’s about swapping punishment for pleasure and finding a lifestyle that truly feels like you.
So if you’re stepping into the new year wondering what to try next, try this: skip the resolution. Brew the tea (correctly). Take the sip again and again for 30 days. See how you feel.
Want to join me on this journey of quiet health and joy? Subscribe to keep sipping The Green Tea Practice together, one calming cup at a time.