Tea to Trim Men’s Waistlines
There may be a simple solution to men's growing waistlines in New Orleans, one of the richest cities in the country both in culture and cuisine.
Laila Morcos ABC26 News
March 24, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - There may be a simple solution to men's growing waistlines in New Orleans, one of the richest cities in the country both in culture and cuisine.
Bottom of the Cup Tea Room is one of the only tea houses providing hundreds of teas and psychic readings in the French Quarter. Tom Mullen's grandmother opened the tea room in 1929. "The customers would come in and have a sandwich and lunch or so and then the reader would visit their table and read their tea leaves in the bottom of the cup," he says.
Now, he says more people are stopping in for a reading and tea. "The interest in tea has grown astronomically in fact. The wellness part of it -- the antioxidants, the flavonoids," he says.
Leo Boekbinder is a two cup-a-day enthusiast. "I think it speeds the metabolism up and it helps keep the weight under control," says Leo.
He may be right. A new study has found men who drink two cups of tea a day have a trimmer waistline than those who don't. One common ingredient may be katekin. "Katekin may increase metabolism and therefore could potentially cause weightloss," says Ochsner Chief of General Surgery William Richardson. He says more studies need to be done to show exactly what may cause the shrinking bellies in men and no effect on women. "There are hormonal differences that could account for that," he says.
"There's nothing bad about tea," says Tom. At the Bottom of the Cup, you can get your tea leaves read. And Tom predicts if a guy adds some tea to his diet -- he'll be steeping in benefits.
The study also showed men who use sugar in tea had smaller waistlines than those who used artificial sweeteners.
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