Tea time

With nights getting longer and days getting colder, it's the perfect time for a cup of tea.

If your regular mug of PG Tips is starting to seem boring, then it's worth giving herbal teas a try.

There's a massive range of fruit, herbal and green tea available (see Twinings.co.uk for a good selection).

Some herbal teas even claim to benefit your health - in particular, teas that claim to aid weight loss have received a lot of attention. But can it be that easy?

Pu-erh tea

Pu-erh tea is claimed to aid weight loss by helping to digest fatty foods, increase metabolism, and possibly even reduce cholesterol.

Victoria Beckham is known to drink this tea to lose weight and to keep the weight off - so it must be doing something right!

DPlan.co.uk recommends drinking pu-erh tea after every meal for three months and then one cup a day after that to maintain weight loss.

Buy at SlimmingSolutions.co.uk.

Fennel tea

In the Middle Ages, fennel seeds were chewed during fasting days to suppress the appetite.

Today, fennel is still used for its weight loss benefits, often by drinking it in tea form.

There are several possible reasons why fennel tea may aid weight loss.

Firstly, fennel helps the liver and pancreas metabolise fats and sugars. [-[quote]-]

Fennel also helps to dissolve fat deposits in the body.

Thirdly, fennel acts as a diuretic, decreasing the build-up of fluid retention in the body.

So there are lots of reasons for giving fennel tea a try - buy from GoodnessDirect.co.uk.

Oolong/Wulong tea

This tea may help weight loss by increasing metabolism, burning fat, and blocking dietary fat absorption.

A Japanese study found that drinking oolong tea regularly could reduce waist and upper arm size, as well as reducing cholesterol levels.

However, their subjects did drink a litre every day - so you'd have to enjoy the taste of this one!

Check out the impressive range of oolong teas from TeaWorld.co.uk and give it a try yourself.

Many herbal teas are promoted as weight-loss aids and there is much scientific evidence to back up the claims.

Hot drinks are perfect for keeping you warm while you're watching TV or doing some work, so why not switch to herbal teas and try out their possible benefits?

Just put the kettle on, put your feet up and relax - now that's my kind of weight loss.