Starting
the day with a glass of lemon-infused water has become akin to a religious
ritual for many looking to lose
weight fast. The bad news? Dietitians in the know say the water won't magically
help you shed pounds. In fact, no beverage in and of itself is a silver bullet
for slimming down (especially not diet soda). But there are some brews that,
coupled with a healthy lifestyle, can actually give your weight loss efforts a
boost. Here are three to start sipping.
Coffee
Call
it nature's perfect energy drink: Research shows drinking two to three cups of
coffee before a workout can spur you to work out longer and
harder than you would if you hit the gym caffeine-free—and that means you torch more calories. One study in
the Journal of Sports
Medicine and Physical Fitness found
that exercisers could do almost 20% more reps on a leg press machine when they
fueled with java. But remember: Always drink it black (or add a little
no-calorie stevia extract), since loading up on cream and sugar is the fastest
way to undo the benefits of your coffee-fueled extended workout.
Plain ice
water
Swap
out the squeeze of lemon for a handful of ice: Cold drinks prompt your body to
expend more energy to maintain its preferred 98.6-degree temperature. This
means downing three 24-oz servings of ice water in a day can help your body
burn up to 100 extra calories, says Mitzi Dulan, RD, nutritionist for the
Kansas City Royals and author of The Pinterest Diet. Do it
every day and you could lose up
to 10 pounds over the course of a
year.
Green tea
Not
only is green tea gloriously calorie free, it can also help spur fat burn and weight
loss. In one study, participants who drank four cups of green tea daily for 2
months lost an average of about 6 more pounds, compared with those who drank
just plain water, according to research published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.
Another 2013 analysis from the European
Journal of Nutrition found that regular green tea drinkers weigh less
and have smaller waists. (Scientists speculate green tea's combo of
catechin antioxidants and caffeine are behind the effect.) Choose fresh, hot
brewed tea with nothing added—store-bought bottled brews tend to have fewer
antioxidants and can be loaded with excess sugar. Stay away from unregulated
green tea supplements, too: They're a frequent cause of liver damage and may
contain unsafe doses of compounds isolated from tea.
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