By Ben Kallen
There's nothing more comforting than a nice hot beverage on a cold winter day. But fat-laden coffeehouse lattes and sugary hot cocoa can ruin your healthy weight loss plan, especially this time of year. Well, we have a solution: warm, delicious drinks that actually encourage fat loss rather than weight gain. Try one of these today, and you could find yourself skinnier by springtime!
Green tea. There's a reason this fresh-tasting, antioxidant-rich brew is an integral part of Beachbody's Slimming Formula. Over the past few years, research has confirmed the traditional view that green tea boosts your metabolism, probably due to the combined effects of caffeine and a chemical known as EGCG (Epigallocatechin gallate). It may also speed up fat oxidation and increase insulin sensitivity. (But don't fool yourself—you still need to exercise and eat right if you want to lose excess fat.) For getting the best flavor, brew the tea for just a minute or two.
Oolong tea. This mild-tasting tea is actually made from the same leaf as green tea, Camellia sinensis. The difference is in the fermentation process—a little turns it into oolong, while a lot turns it into common black tea. Recently, studies have shown that oolong has its own metabolism-boosting powers, possibly as the result of chemicals known as polymerized polyphenols. In one Japanese study (unconfirmed in the West), women who drank large cups of oolong tea had a 10 percent increase in their metabolisms for 2 hours after they drank the tea.
Chai tea. Also known as masala chai, this mixture of black tea and spices is delicious and good for you, too. Traditional Indian medicine holds that cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, peppercorn, and cloves are "warming" spices that aid digestion, and recent Western studies have found that cinnamon itself can help stabilize blood sugar. Don't buy the prepared mixes, which are usually full of extra sugar and fat. Instead, just brew a chai teabag in hot water, and add a little low-fat milk and sweetener to taste.
High-protein, low-sugar hot cocoa. Cocoa powder is loaded with antioxidants known as flavanols, and it offers some protection against various ailments, from heart disease to high blood pressure to diabetes. What prevents hot cocoa made with mainstream mixes from being a healthy drink are the high number of sugar calories and the relatively small amount of protein. (A recent study published in the journal Nutrition & Dietetics found that overweight adults burned more fat following a high-protein meal than after a meal made up mostly of carbohydrates.) We recommend using a cocoa powder that's as unprocessed as you can find—preferably raw and organic—because those tend to be higher in antioxidants. But regular (unsweetened) supermarket brands are fine, too.
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