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It seems that we're all fighting the battle of the bulge. Especially as we get older, it seems to get harder to keep the pounds at bay. We often think of women as being the dieters, but in fact, men are just as subject to weight problems as women.

As you're looking for ways to make weight loss easier, consider the research that has been performed on the health benefits of tea. Tea has long been used in Asian cultures to prevent illness and protect health, and it seems that science is proving what Asians have believed all along: tea is good for you.

Lifelong tea drinkers have lower incidences of heart disease, high cholesterol and some forms of cancer. They are also less likely to suffer from diabetes or be overweight. Tea protects your teeth and may even have potential to prevent diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

We are beginning to learn a lot about the benefits of tea, but clearly there is much more to learn, so that we can pinpoint exactly how we can best use tea to help with medical needs.

One of the most promising areas of tea research centers on tea as a weight loss aid. Much research has shown that tea seems to speed up the metabolism and promote fat oxidation. Other studies have shown that lifelong tea drinkers are less likely to be overweight, have a lower percentage of body fat and have a lower waist to hip ratio.

In addition, studies have shown that when tea was part of a sensible diet and exercise plan, subjects lose more weight than those subjects who used a diet and exercise plan without tea as a supplement.

One study that is particularly interesting was conducted by the Beltsville Human Nutrition Center in Maryland in conjunction with the University of Tokushima in Japan. In this study, twelve men between the ages of 25 and 60 were evaluated. All participants were in good health, and the study was conducted over a period of one month. The target participants were those who consumed the caffeine equivalent of 2-4 cups of coffee each day.

Prior to the beginning of the study, each participant was evaluated with regard to their calorie expenditure per day without caffeine or tea. During the study, each participant was placed into one of four study groups. One group received a supplement of water, one group received water with caffeine, one group received half strength oolong tea and one group received full strength oolong tea.

For three days, the participants were fed the exact same diet. The diet was low calorie and free of caffeine, other than the caffeine in the beverage supplements. The beverage supplements were given to the participants five times per day.

This study found that the participants who drank full strength oolong tea and caffeinated water burned more calories in a day than the subjects who drank water or half strength tea. Drinking caffeinated water increased energy expenditure by 3.4% over those participants who drank water alone.

Drinking full strength tea increased energy expenditure by 2.9% over drinking water alone. Drinking half strength tea did not significantly increase energy expenditure over drinking water alone.

So, why not just drink water with caffeine?

You might ask why we wouldn't just drink water with caffeine to help increase our metabolic rate. Well, according to this study, you could do just that. However, when you consider the many other studies that have touted the many other benefits of tea consumption, it's clear that getting your metabolic boost from tea is far healthier than adding caffeine to your water.

Tea is full of anti-oxidants, which is believed to be why it prevents illnesses and protects health. Anti-oxidants are powerful fighters of free radicals in the body. Free radicals are oxygen containing molecules that are created as a by-product of our digestion process.

These free radicals damage our cells and DNA if left unchecked. However, consuming anti-oxidants combats these free radicals before they can harm our bodies. Scientists have shown that consuming a diet high in anti-oxidants helps us to avoid serious illnesses and slows down the aging process.

In addition, there have been other studies that have suggested that tea promotes more weight loss through fat oxidation than other caffeinated beverages. It is believed that this too is the result of anti-oxidants. It appears that the combination of caffeine with the anti-oxidants in tea is a more powerful weight loss supplement than caffeine in other beverages.

Finally, research has shown that the caffeine in tea seems to be better tolerated than other forms of caffeine. Many people who are caffeine sensitive find that they can drink tea without the usual side effects of caffeine. The caffeine in tea often does not produce the irregular heart rate and nervous jitters that caffeine sensitive people experience from other caffeinated beverages.

So, adding tea to your diet plan may be a great way to speed up your weight loss. Tea is healthy, refreshing, inexpensive and readily available. So, why not add tea to your diet routine?