Does green tea promote weight loss?

Weight loss trends have been circulating on TikTok and the latest feature green tea.

The viral TikTok videos have labeled green tea “nature’s Ozempic,” but is it actually effective?

For centuries, green tea has been known as a “diet hack,” the New York Times reported. Green tea has been featured in diet books and meal plans.

TikTok videos are claiming that green tea can aid with shedding pounds, with some people reporting that they’re drinking as many as five cups a day.

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Dr. Jyotsna Ghosh, an obesity medicine doctor at Johns Hopkins University, told the Times that evidence on whether green tea can help with weight loss is unclear — despite some research on the connection.

Those on TikTok claiming the hack works are citing two components of green tea: caffeine and antioxidants.

Ghosh said caffeine could speed up someone’s metabolism, but it would be unlikely to result in “substantial weight loss,” the Times reported.

“Green tea also contains compounds called polyphenols, antioxidants that can help protect cells from damage and reduce inflammation,” the Times said. “Studies in animals and in human cells have suggested these compounds could improve metabolism and reduce fat absorption from the gut. But trials in humans have had mixed results.”

And other videos are claiming that green tea can boost the production of GLP-1, a gut hormone that prompts the pancreas to release insulin after a meal. The gut hormone also slows down the rate at which food leaves the stomach, and it affects areas of the brain that regulate hunger, according to the Times.

Experts said, however, that any effect green tea might have on GLP-1 is likely to be small, the Times reported, as any food or drink can increase GLP-1 levels slightly, according to Ghosh.

Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said that focusing on a single food or drink ignores the many other factors that play a role in weight loss, like a person’s broader diet, exercise habits, genetics, stress, metabolic health and quality of sleep.

“Look at how you can improve lifestyle, if weight loss is your goal,” she told the Times. “Not just specifically one food, drug, supplement, whatever it might be.”

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, green tea as a beverage or dietary supplement is promoted for improving mental alertness, relieving digestive symptoms and headaches, and promoting weight loss.

It is believed to be safe to consume in up to eight cups per day, according to the center.

“Green tea extracts haven’t been shown to produce a meaningful weight loss in adults who are overweight or obese,” the center reported, however. “They also haven’t been shown to help people maintain a weight loss.”