1 Week Challenge: Yogi Tea Detox?

1 Week Challenge: Yogi Tea Detox?

A tea detox is normally something I would not associate myself with. While it’s usually connected to losing weight, I am in no way trying to lose weight. But due to some current health issues, I am constantly reevaluating what I let enter my body. I chose detox tea because while I am now trying to be picky about what I put in, I wonder if detox tea will help me get all of the bad stuff from before out. While some people use it to lose weight, others use detoxes to realign their body. That is my goal from this: to experience a healthier feeling me and to try something new. My plan is to continue with my normal exercise regimen and food intake. My water intake will increase slightly due to detoxing. I read in multiple sites that since you are purifying your gut and body, you need to supplement your body with more water to help aid the process and keep your body sufficiently hydrated.

The detox tea I am using is Yogi Detox which I got from Meijer for $3.99. It apparently is a caffeine-free herbal supplement which contains a lot of organic ingredients like: Indian Sarsaparilla Root, Cinnamon Bark, Ginger Root, Licorice Root, Burdock Root, Dandelion Root, Cardamom Pod, Clove Bud, Black Pepper, Juniper Berry extract, Long Pepper Berry, Rhubarb Root, Chinese Skullcap Root, Coptis Root, Forsythia fruit, Gardenia fruit, and Japanese Honeysuckle flower (all ingredients are investigated at the end of post). This tea promises to help bring “healthy balance from within” which I am all about. I plan on drinking two cups of this detox tea a day: One in the morning after I wake up and one before dinner. I do not anticipate re-steeping this tea. The tea will be steeped for 7 minutes, as per packaging instructions. I will first show my daily findings and musings and then investigate further into this odd trend.

Day 1: Thursday

I was really surprised how much I liked this tea, but do yourself a favor. If you ever try this tea, do not put the tea bag directly on your nose to smell it. It smells spicy, you will cough, you will regret. The tea did not taste overly spicy but had almost a very subtle sweet aftertaste. I ended up actually re-steeping it in the morning and using my giant 3-cup mug for my nightly tea. The only thing I really noticed was after drinking the tea, I would have to take 2 bathroom trips. I did, however, feel very hydrated and energized at the gym. Besides a handful of Doritos, I ate healthily and fully.

Day 2: Friday

I had to chug my tea this morning. I was running late and heading to the gym, had to scarf down my food and just down the tea. Of course, I do not recommend this. I had to immediately go to the bathroom before I left the house, and when I got to the gym. My stomach was feeling slightly odd and I started to…really need to go to the bathroom…which is not the best feeling on leg day. I honestly do not think I am feeling any benefits of this tea yet. I am trying to keep up on my water intake and keep consistent with my food intake.

Day 3: Saturday

I did not do too well today. I only drank one cup. I had this event later in the day so I was busy the entire time prior. Between grocery shopping, making dinner, and getting ready for the event, I just forgot to drink it. I did, however, drink some “spicy” tea and a lot of water at the event. So I am counting it as a half cup. One thing I am noticing is that I feel more hydrated, probably because I am (usually) forcing myself to drink at least two large cups of tea with a lot of water and milk during the day. Maybe it is because many people do this to lose weight and I am doing it for different reasons, but I just do not notice any immediate, obvious benefits. It is still yummy though.

Day 4: Sunday 

I think I might be getting slightly tired of this flavor. It still is a delicious and smooth tea, but I find myself forgetting or procrastinating when it comes to drinking it. I definitely needed a detox though with how much I was constantly eating during the Superbowl. My food self-restraint went out the door: Little sausages, salad, (many, many) cookies, brownies, and chips, OH MY! Again I am not seeing any changes with this tea, even when I am usually eating well and staying active. I was hoping that with all this food I had eaten tonight, when I got to drinking my tea, the bloating would just go away. So if anything, it was kinda interesting to see how this tea interacted when I actually did overindulge in food. But spoiler alert, it did nothing noticeable.

Day 5: Monday

I never thought I would get tired of any kind of tea, but here I am. I like the flavor, I really do. But is getting quite annoying that I am not really drinking anything else but this tea, water, and some milk. I really want to drink my herbal teas or some nice Earl Grey tea. However, timing is not on my side since my classes tend to interfere with my tea wishes. I made sure to eat super healthy today (salads, eggs, chicken) to try and counteract what I ate yesterday. I really wanted this tea to help with bloating. I am on a personal mission to gain muscle, so I am constantly eating which makes me feel bloated. I was really hoping this tea would help me with that, but so far I am not noticing anything.

Day 6: Tuesday

I learned something today. The sustained energy portion is actually legit. Yesterday I chugged the tea right before bed, and proceeded to not be able to sleep for a couple of hours! This is the first time this tea is actually impacting my life in any way, besides the extra bathroom trips, it seems to provide directly after drinking. I am starting to think that this detox might not work but is a very tasty tea.

Day 7: Wednesday

Last day!! I do not know what I was exactly expecting to happen. Maybe that I would wake up and fly from my bed in a health filled state where I would then go drink my second to the last cup of detox tea and everything this week would fall into place. I wish that would happen, it would have made things more interesting to report. I noticed that during this week, it would get increasingly harder to find time to drink this tea. The mornings usually were not the problem, but the before-dinner cups were harder to do on time and sometimes ended up with me quickly downing the whole thing before bed. I do not feel any different, honestly if anything, I feel more bloated.

Investigation & Research:

The word detox in the tea community can bring up many emotions; it is kind of a sore subject. Either people believe in them 100% or people laugh at those who do and discredit them. This challenge was for me to see if there were any short-term benefits that could be prevalent after only a week of drinking the tea. Some may say that it was not enough time for the detox to work, but I was afraid of drinking a detox for more than a week since I did not know how my body would respond to it. Anyways, I wanted to investigate more into this taboo section of the tea world. I am trying to show an unbiased position and show both sides of the matter.

Some health experts say that detox teas, paired with the proper nutrition and workout regime, can result in weight loss. However, in many studies, it has been found to be only short term results. Usually, when doing detox teas, the consumer limits their food intake and ups their liquids which results in a calorie deficit. When the detox is done, they go back to their normal food routine, which then leads to them gaining back the weight they had previously lost. With proper food and exercise consulting, detox teas could potentially aid the weight loss process. But the unfortunate fact of the matter is that most people look at detox teas as a magic fix all problem-solver and only want to commit to a short process. To add another thought, if you are looking for a little kick-start into losing weight, this could be an option as long as you are careful and do not have unreal expectations.

Another interesting thing I thought about, was that none of these detoxes seem to have the same ingredients or the same amount of ingredients. Besides the ingredient ginger (which was in the three types I compared), there are many ingredients that differ detox to detox. There are me many ingredients in Yogi Detox tea, but only five ingredients in other teas. Which tea has the correct recipe?

Detox teas claim to:

  • Cleanse the body of toxins
  • Help the body after overindulging in foods and liquids
  • Eliminate bloating
  • Release water weight
  • Clear skin
  • Give you energy throughout the day

Looking back there may have been a few short-term benefits that were somewhat noticeable during the week. I found myself occasionally being less bloated, my skin looked pretty decent during the week, and I had sustained energy throughout the day.

Analyzing the Ingredients:

Each ingredient is unique in health properties and occasionally when combined provides amplified benefits. Information used from organicfacts.net. Just a warning, this is an extremely long bit. So if you do not care, just skip down a bit.

  • Indian Sarsaparilla Root – Health benefits include cancer prevention, treated inflammation, increases sex drive, weight loss, boosts the immune system, skin care, and detox the body and blood. Side effects can be an upset stomach, diarrhea, and indigestion.
  • Cinnamon Bark – Health benefits include diabetic control, cancer prevention, bone and mental health, aiding cognitive disorders, digestive effects, and antibacterial effects. Cinnamon for some people can cause allergic responses and actually be toxic to the body.
  • Ginger Root – Health benefits include flu and cold prevention, anti-inflammatory, eases menstrual problems, prevents tumors, reduces stress, and aids in digestion. Side effects include upset stomach, heartburn, low blood pressure, lightheadedness, and allergic reactions such as irritation of the mouth and lips.
  • Licorice Root – Health benefits include improved skin care, low blood pressure, ease menstrual cramps, improved hair care, boost the immune system, detoxify the body, and ease anxiety and depression. Side effects include headaches, fatigue, changing blood pressure, water retention, and hormonal issues.
  • Burdock Root – Health benefits include blood pressure regulation, aid in digestion, controls diabetes, detoxifies the liver, improved skin care, hormonal balance, and boosts your immune system. Burdock root can trigger an allergic reaction and ingesting too much of it can result in potassium toxicity.
  • Dandelion Root – Health benefits include better bone health, improves liver disorders, aids in digestion, controls diabetes, treats urinary disorders, improves skin care and acne, promotes weight loss, prevents cancer, treats jaundice, prevents anemia and gall bladder issues, regulates blood pressure, and is great for prenatal care. Dandelion can trigger allergies and sensitivities in the body.
  • Cardamom Pod – Health benefits include heart health, blood sugar balance, stress reliever, improved gastrointestinal health, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, dental health, lung function, blood circulation, and for treating nausea. Side effects are limited unless you have allergies or medications which might interfere with the ingredient.
  • Clove Bud – Health benefits include improved digestion, antibacterial properties, liver protection, controls diabetes, bone protection, boosts the immune system, anti-inflammatory properties, cures oral issues, and helps headaches. There does not seem to be any side effects with straight clove buds.
  • Black Pepper – Health benefits include anti-tumor properties, improved digestion, promotes weight loss, improves skin conditions, helps respiratory system, anti-bacterial, improves cognitive function, and helps transport benefits of other foods into the body. Black pepper might cause allergic reactions to some people and cause distress to those who recently underwent abdominal surgery.
  • Juniper Berry extract – Health benefits include reducing oxidative stress, a natural antiseptic, improves skin conditions, stimulates digestion, aids sleeping problems, and promotes heart health. Juniper Berry can cause allergic reactions to some and if too much ingested, can cause toxicity in the body.
  • Long Pepper Berry – Health benefits include aiding liver ailments, promotes weight loss, controls diabetes, help bacterial infections, improves cough and fevers, helps with indigestion, aids toothaches, reduces diarrhea, and help with asthma. No known side effects.
  • Rhubarb Root – Health benefits include weight loss, improved cardiovascular health, digestion aid, prevents memory diseases, improves bone health, prevents cancer, treats diabetes, improves circulation of blood and improves eyesight. No side effects normally, but if you have on-going kidney or gastrointestinal issues, you could make them worse by ingesting this.
  • Chinese Skullcap Root – Health Benefits include reduced anxiety, pain alleviation, helps nervous disorders, natural detox, manages diabetes, cardiovascular health, promotes weight loss, and prevents cancer. Side effects include giddiness and activeness, nausea, lightheadedness, and occasionally (in extreme cases) seizures.
  • Coptis Root – Health Benefits include controlling diabetes, eases diarrhea, aids ear infections, cardiovascular health, manages blood pressure, helps cholesterol, and protect against liver disease. Not enough research to know if there are side effects.
  • Forsythia fruit – Too obscure to get for sure answers on health benefits, but it seems like it is used as an alternative to cold medicine, strengthens the immune system, natural detox, aid nausea, and protects the liver. One possible side effect is that this ingredient is a natural blood thinner.
  • Gardenia fruit – Health benefits include reduced inflammation, increased sex drive, aids healing, improves moods and emotions, improves the immune system, helps the respiratory system, increases circulation, and improves gut health. This ingredient might interact with the body and act as a laxative or cause diarrhea.
  • Japanese Honeysuckle flower – Health benefits include reduced inflammation, improved digestive health, improve the immune system, stabilize blood sugar levels, and relaxant. Side effects include possible blood disorders and gastrointestinal irritation,

As you can see, there are many ingredients with varying health benefits. I pose this question: How many ingredients does it take before they become redundant? Sure you can put a lot of healthy ingredients into a tea to cover all of the bases, but do you really need to? A lot of the ingredients have similar properties. Either way, I still have a multitude of questions about detox tea. I answered a lot already, but new ones pop up as my research continues. I do not know if I would recommend a tea detox based on my small experience, but I would recommend this for a tea to have occasionally as it was quite delicious.

Have you ever done a tea detox? Did it work for you and what brand did you use? Is there a very important piece of this puzzle that I am missing? Let me know in the comments! As always, happy brewing!

-Danielle

5 thoughts on “1 Week Challenge: Yogi Tea Detox?

  1. Great article! I personally recommend red tea detox, so effective and helpful on my diet. I really loved it and I know you’ll love it too.

  2. I can share my experience with yogi tea. For me it worked like a charm. I lost 8 pounds in 3 weeks. Started to feel fresh and energetic even from the first day. My skin is better than before now.

    1. That is interesting! I think it just works better for some people, and some outside efforts might assist as well such as exercise or healthy eating.

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