Fatloss and Pu-erh Tea

Pu-erh tea is a product of Yunnan. It is a brother to oolong, green and black tea and like its siblings, it fermented differently. It goes through the process of post fermentation and is stored for a very long time under high humidity. This method of storage is known as ‘aging’.  It is popularly believed in
China that the longer it is left to age, the better it will taste, though not all the time because some might taste awful because of the bacteria which has attached itself to the tea for that long a time.

Aside its tea drinking use, it is used as medication for curing high cholesterol, boosting alertness.

How it works with weight loss

Pu-erh tea is special from other tea because it has a little amount of a chemical called Lovastatin which is used by medical practitioners to lower high cholesterol. It also has antioxidants and caffeine (though not as much as in other teas) which helps to protect the heart and blood vessels.

Side Effects

Though It has the same side effect with green tea, it has less caffeine than its other siblings and this is due to the ‘aging’ effect which reduces the caffeine content over time. it should be noted also that it has trace amounts of zinc, nickel and fluorides.

Click here to read about Green tea side effects.

How should Pu-erh tea be taken?

Pu-erh tea comes in different forms; caked, bricked, bell shaped or loose leaf form. The traditional way the Orientals brew their tea is to boil the water then wash the tea with it for 5-10 seconds. This is to eliminate debris and bacteria. For the loosed leave pu-erh, it is infused in hot water for 25 – 30 seconds before it is drank. Some pu-erh teas can be re-brewed between 8 – 15 times or more.

For the caked, bricked of bell-shaped pu-erh tea, you have to tenderly pry the leave away, one after the other to avoid breaking them all too often because when it is brewed broken leaves and all, it tastes bitter and this can hinder you from enjoying its unique flavor.

As for the quantity of leave you will use for each brew, it is preferable you go with your instinct or better still, use two teaspoon with 100ml of water per serving or you can measure in weight if you like.