Tea provides a variety of benefits to those who drink it regularly

• Tea, which studies suggest may be associated with decreased risk of heart disease and cancer, may also help in the battle against the bulge.
• A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that substances in tea may promote weight loss by increasing the amount of energy spent by the body.
• The researchers theorize that green tea, which has thermogenic properties that promote fat oxidation as a result of the catechins contained in tea, may work together with other chemicals to increase weight loss.
• In the study, healthy young men (average age: 25) ate a typical Western diet for six weeks and took either two green tea extracts (the equivalent of one cup of green tea) plus 50 milligrams of caffeine; 50 milligrams of caffeine only; or a placebo, with each of three meals a day.
• Those men taking the green tea extracts, equivalent to a total of three cups of tea per day, experienced a significant increase in the number of calories used in a 24-hour period -- resulting in more fats being metabolized by the body for energy -- than the men taking only the caffeine or the placebo.
• Japanese researchers compared the body weight and fat mass of mice that were fed a low-fat or high-fat diet, with swimming or not and with or without tea catechins.
• Those mice that were fed a high-fat diet with tea catechins but without exercise showed reduced fat accumulation of 18 percent while exercise alone showed reduced fat accumulation of 14 percent.
• "The evidence continues to mount associating tea consumption with reduced risk of heart disease and cancer, and healthy weight.
• A multitude of research suggests that drinking tea should be included as part of a healthy diet and may contribute to overall health.