And not just a little more - 157% more. The caffeine is believed to contribute to that effect to some extent, but it is not the only factor. Scientists believe there are other compounds present in the tea wuyi that create this fat burning effect. Unfortunately, they don't know exactly what they are at the moment. Not that it stops the tea from working!

There are a number of studies that have looked at this ability of the tea wuyi to burn fat. One of them looked at a group of 75 obese people. Using echography sensors, the trial scientists measured the thickness of the participant's subcutaneous fat (the fat directly under the skin), before and after. And they found that after only six weeks of drinking the tea wuyi twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, the thickness of their fat decreased by 4mm on average. That may not seem like a huge amount, but these people were specifically told NOT to exercise or make any dietary changes. Imagine what a boost that would provide to someone who was in fact dieting or doing a little bit of exercise.

The benefits of the tea wuyi are not confined just to burning fat, however. Some of the people in that trial, who were aged from 22 to 68 years, had high cholesterol before the study started. Testing showed that for some of them, after the trial, their cholesterol and blood triglyceride levels had definitely dropped. That's not bad for drinking tea!

Oh - and 67% of people lost weight. Doing nothing but drink tea.

The people over at OolongTea.org say that oolong tea (another name for the tea wuyi) works as a fat burner by activating the enzyme responsible for triglyceride (fat) metabolism. And if there was any doubt about the tea wuyi's ability to burn fat, this double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted in Japan by the International Public Health Nutrition, Graduate School of Health Bioscience's from the University of Tokushima, should ease any concerns.

Twelve healthy people (adults) were given 38 grams of fat per day from potato chips. They were all told to drink a total of 750 ml of tea throughout the day, with their 3 meals. That equates to bout a cup of tea with each meal. Those in the control group were given a placebo, The rest were given a polyphenol-enriched oolong (wuyi) tea. Now, polyphenols are one of the active constituents in the tea wuyi.

During the last few days of the study, scientists collected samples of the study participants feces. They were looking to measure the degree to which wuyi tea reduced the absorption of fats in the diet. They measured this by looking at how much was excreted in the feces. And the results were positive - higher amounts of fats were found in the feces of those who had been drinking the tea wuyi.

Drinkers of the tea wuyi can look to enjoy many other health benefits as well. Wuyi (oolong) tea is associated with increased energy, improved metabolism, anti aging benefits, as well as reducing the effects of hypertension and type II diabetes. It may also help with infections.

You can find out more about the tea wuyi here.

References: wu-yiteaco.com/health-benefits.htm