10 weight lose teas that will shrink your waist line but not your wallet:

Boost your metabolism and blast away stubborn flab with these delicious brews.

For most Americans, tea is tea. Forget black teas, white teas, greens, and reds; tea is that finely ground gunpowder that comes in bags from Lipton, or that over-sweetened sludge sloshed into plastic bottles and sold in between the Coke and the Mountain Dew.

However, in places like Japan, the UK, and large swaths of Southeast Asia, tea leaves are as diverse and nuanced as wine grapes. Not only does the flavor profile change dramatically between one tea variety

and the next, but so do the health benefits. Not only can certain brews fight off various diseases, select teas have also been shown to rev the metabolism, quell hunger, slash waist-widening stress, and shrink fat cells when you drink tea every day. When Taiwanese researchers studied more than 1,100 people over a 10-year period, they determined that those who drank tea had 19.6 percent less body fat than those who drank none.

To ensure you brew the best cups for your weight loss goals, we’ve rounded up the most potent waist-whittling teas from around the world. Read on to find out what they are—and to get the most out of every cup, pick up a copy of the best-selling 7-Day Flat-Belly Tea Cleanse!

Ginseng

There’s no solid evidence in humans available to support any weight loss effects of Ginseng .

This includes gynostemma pentaphyllum which is often referred to as a type of ginseng.

Green Tea

Get this: Green tea literally blasts away flab! Researchers attribute the fat-burning properties of green tea to catechins, specifically EGCG — the name of a group of antioxidative compounds that blast adipose tissue by revving the metabolism, increasing the release of fat from fat cells (particularly in the belly), and then speeding up the liver’s fat burning capacity. It gets better: Research suggests that combining regulargreen-tea drinking with exercise may maximize the weight loss benefits. In one study, participants who combined a daily habit of 4-5 cups of green tea with a 25-minute workout lost 2 more pounds than the non-tea-drinking exercisers. To reap even more flat-belly benefits from your fitness routine, be sure you’re incorporating these best weight loss exercises.

Whether salty foods or alcohol are to blame for your blimp-like belly, lemon tea can help fight the bloat thanks to its d-limonene content. The compound, which is found in citrus rind oil, has been used for its diuretic effects since ancient times. But until recently, there were no scientific findings to back the claims. An animal study published in the European Journal of Pharmacology found D-Limonene has a therapeutic effect on metabolic disorders in mice with high-fat-diet-induced obesity.

Caffeine

Moderate caffeine consumption may suppress appetite and stimulate the body to burn energy.

However, these effects appear to diminish once caffeine tolerance builds up .

White tea

Not only does white tea prevent new fat cells from forming, but it also enhances the body’s ability to break down and utilize existing fat for energy, according to a study published in the journal Nutrition and Metabolism. As if that wasn’t enough, “Chemicals in the tea appear to protect your skin from sun-induced stress, which can cause the cells to break down and age prematurely,” says Elma Baron, MD, the study author. To put white tea to use, try rubbing on a lotion containing white tea extract before you apply your sunblock!

Black Tea

Italian researchers found that drinking a cup of black tea per day improves cardiovascular function—and the more cups you drink, the more you benefit! Better cardiovascular function means you can breeze through that 5K you signed up for. And a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that drinking 20 ounces of black tea daily causes the body to secrete five times more interferon, a key element of your body’s infection-protection arsenal. Just make sure to ditch the dairy. A study in the European Heart Journal found that while black tea can improve blood flow and blood vessel dilation, adding milk to the tea counteracts these effects.

Valerian Tea

Sleep’s a big deal. Losing a mere hour of shut-eye over the course of three days is enough to negatively impact the body’s hunger and appetite-regulating hormone, ghrelin. Quality sleep, on the other hand, fuels the production of fat-burning hormones, making it a top priority if you’re trying to drop a few pounds. Valerian is an herb that’s long been valued as a mild sedative, and now research is showing what tea enthusiasts have known for centuries. In a study of women, researchers gave half the test subjects a valerian extract and half a placebo. Thirty percent of those who received valerian reported an improvement in the quality of their sleep, versus just 4 percent of the control group. Sleep-deprived? Here’s Your One Day-Plan for Better Sleep.

What About Detox Teas … Do They Work?

Many weight loss teas also claim to be able to detox your body.

As with any commercial detox product, this is simply untrue.

Your liver, kidneys and immune system are all a healthy person needs to help eliminate everyday exposure to so-called toxins.

For a more in-depth look at debunking the detox myth, take a look at this article

Ashwagandha Tea

Ashwagandha tea gives you a better outlook on life and reduces stress hormones that can wreak havoc on your waistline. A study published in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine found that “Ashwagandha root extract safely and effectively improves an individual’s resistance towards stress and thereby improves self-assessed quality of life.” When it comes to weight loss, stress is not your friend. A recent study at Penn State found that people who react badly to stressful situations have increased levels of inflammation in their bodies—and inflammation is directly tied to obesity, as well as diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. When anxiety rides high, you’re also at the mercy of stress hormones such as cortisol—known as “the belly fat hormone” for its ability to pull lipids from the bloodstream and store them in our fat cells.

Bilberry Tea

Consuming bilberries, a northern European cousin to the blueberry, may help reduce bloat-inducing inflammation, according to a study published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. To come to these findings, researchers divided participants into two groups; one group was given a diet that included an equivalent of 1.5 cups of blueberries, while the other group followed a control diet that didn’t include the fruit. At the end of the experiment, the bilberry-eating group had significantly less inflammation than their counterparts who didn’t munch on the berry. Since the fruit is native to Northern Europe, it isn’t widely available in the US. To reap the benefits, enjoy a few cups of bilberry tea.

Red Tea

Rooibos tea is made from the leaves of the “red bush” plant, grown exclusively in the small Cederberg region of South Africa, near Cape Town. What makes rooibos tea particularly good for your belly is a unique and powerful flavonoid called Aspalathin. According to South African researchers, polyphenols and flavonoids found in the plant inhibit adipogenesis–the formation of new fat cells–by as much as 22 percent. The chemicals also help aid fat metabolism. Plus, Rooibos is naturally sweet, so you won’t need to add sugar. It’s also not technically a tea—it’s an herbal infusion. Want to give your metabolism a kick? Check out these 6 Ways to Boost your Metabolism.