Popular ingredients in detox tea:

To gain an understanding of how flat tummy tea really works, we are going to take an in depth look at its key ingredients and how they interact with the body.  Some of them have been explained in detail:

Cardomom Pods

• Cardamom is spice commonly used regularly in traditional eastern cooking, and has long been suggested to improve health and boost energy.
• Cardamom is high in the key minerals Ironand Manganese, both of which are known to aid in the metabolic processes of our cells, which improves our capacity to breakdown glucose and fats for energy, while simultaneously increasing the rate at which we metabolise fat for energy – both of which can contribute to weight loss over time.
• As a bonus, cardamom contains anti-carcinogenic compounds that are said to fight free radical formation in the body, reducing the risk of developing cancer, while also stunting the growth of cancerous cells^].

Senna Leaf

• Senna leaf is used frequently to treat heavy constipation, and is even at times used prior to a colonoscopy to cleanse the gut and digestive tract. As a result, the laxative-like affect that Senna leaf will have on the body will lead to fluid loss, creating a perception of weight loss, without any real fat loss occurring within the body.
• More importantly, Senna leaf has been shown to be unsafe when taken orally for more than two weeks at a time, as it has the potential to alter the normal function of our bowels, creating a laxative dependence (ultimately rendering the body unable to excrete faecal matter without the aid of senna leaf).

Dandelion Leaf

• It was once suggested to treat skin disease and other skin issues, although recent research suggests that this is not the case. In fact, similar to senna leaf, dandelion leaf has actually been shown to act as diuretic in humans, increasing the rate at which the kidneys produce and excrete urine ^[3].
• Again, this will promote the loss of fluid from the body, resulting in the perception or appearance of weight loss, but will not actually contribute to any fat loss (and may actually lead to dehydration when consumed over a lengthy period of time).

Green Tea

• Green tea is hands down the most commonly occurring ingredient found within detox based teas due to its apparent associations with improved health and weight loss.
• The regular consumption of Green tea has shown to result in an increase in the rate fat is broken down and used for energy in the body, while also increasing the resting energy expenditure of the body.
• In doing so, green tea can actually promote fat loss by making fat readily available to be broken down for energy AND increasing the amount of that energy we burn at rest ^[4].
• Additionally, green tea has also been linked to improvements in the function of the digestive system, which may lead to improved gut health and reduced bloating.

Peppermint leaf

• Peppermint is a plant that has been used traditionally in cooking purely for its smell and taste, although recent research has suggested that it may act as an intestinal aid.
• The oral supplementation of peppermint has been shown to improve digestive health considerably, while also reducing bloating of the gut and improving the signs and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome ^[5].

Liquorice root

• The root of the liquorice plant has been used extensively in traditional Chinese medicine where it was thought to aid digestive processes, improving digestive health and overall health and wellbeing.
• Interestingly, there is limited scientific evidence to suggest that liquorice does impact the digestive system positively. In fact, the consumption of liquorice root has been shown to increase cortisol production while simultaneously reducing resting blood levels of testosterone.
• As a result, the consumption of liquorice root may actually increase systemic inflammation, impacting the digestive system negatively. This may actually lead to bloating, and limit the effective capacity of the digestive system to absorb nutrients, while also promoting potential weight gain.

Carraway Seed

• Carraway seed (also known as Nigella Sativa or Black Cumin) is a compound that has shown to impact general health in a positive manner, albeit at a very small magnitude.
• Additionally, the consumption of caraway seed has shown promise as an immune booster, in which it may increase the capacity of the immune system to fight infection while also acting as an anti-allergic compound.

 Summary

Upon closer inspection, Flat tummy tea contains a number of ingredients that are typical of detox teas in general. These ingredients, including green tea and peppermint leaf, have shown to improve digestive health while also increasing metabolism.

• Although it is important to state that although flat tummy tea does indeed contain some ingredients that support its somewhat lofty claims, there are a number of ingredients included within its formula that may actually be to the users detriment – with particular emphasis on Dandelion and Senna leaf.
• Both of these compounds have shown to act as severe diuretics when consumed orally . As such, these compounds will result in fluid loss from the body, which may create the perception of weightloss – but will not actually lead to any real fat loss and excessive use of these compounds can lead to a number of health issues.