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Jonny Bowden, author, nutritionist and weight loss coach cuts through all the misconceptions about diet and fitness to help you transform your body, your health and your life.

Green tea has been heralded for years as a great addition to your diet if you're watching your weight. The evidence for tea as a weight loss companion continues to grow, but this time it's white tea in the spotlight.

The researchers took an extract from white tea and put it in test tube cultures containing human cells called preadipocytes. Preadipocytes are cells which ultimately turn into fat cells. Exposure to the white tea extract helped prevent that from happening. In a related experiment, researchers then applied the same solution of white tea extract to fully-mature fat cells and found that the extract actually stimulated fat burning in those cells, ultimately reducing their fat content.

Remember that an increase in body fat actually involves two processes: The first is an increase in the number of fat cells, and the second is an increase in the size of the fat cells themselves. If you think of fat cells as little sponges, the first process would be like getting more sponges, and the second would be like soaking them with more water. The white tea extract affected both processes.

The researchers believe that compounds in the tea are responsible for the effect, specifically plant chemicals known as polyphenols, as well as other compounds, like caffeine. The specific polyphenol that appears to be most responsible for the effect is known as EGCG, which is also found in green tea. White tea is the least processed form of tea and contains high levels of EGCG.

We already know that tea -- all kinds of tea -- have multiple health benefits. It now appears that drinking tea may also be a really useful strategy in the fight against fat.

For more information on weight loss and health, visit www.jonnybowden.com.