I must admit, I had not heard of Fit Tea until I read an article about how the Kardashians were talking about it on social media. Well, if it's good enough for the Kardashians it must be good, yes? Maybe. In this review, I want to try to cut through the social media hype and look at the ingredients in Fit Tea as well as what the science says about those ingredients. Does Fit Tea detox or help you lose weight? Does it have any side effects? Can you make your own Fit Tea? Let's see what we can discover…
Other Weight Loss Tea Reviews
Also read these additional detox tea reviews
Fit Tea Clinical Research
Given that the name of the product includes the word “fit,” I was curious if this supplement improved fitness levels. The product website (FitTea.com) doesn't specifically mention any clinical studies on the product itself, although some studies are listed in support of some of its ingredients. Those studies will be summarized below in the Ingredients Section.
I then searched the National Library Of Medicine (Pubmed.gov) to see if any studies were published. I didn't see any. Then, I searched
ClincalTrials.gov to see if any studies might be ongoing. I did not see any when this review was created. Lastly, I did an online search for “Fit Tea clinical studies.” I did not see any listed.
Therefore, I'm forced to conclude that, at this time, Fit Tea – itself – appears to not have any published, peer-reviewed studies.
As such, the only way to get an idea of what its benefits might be, is to look at its individual ingredients and the research conducted on those.
Let's do that now.
Fit Tea Ingredients
There are 13 different ingredients in each Fit Tea teabag. Each cup has zero calories and the ingredients are as follows:
| Rooibos | Green tea | Ginger |
| Oolong | Pomegranate | Stevia |
| Guarana | Citric Acid | Sea Salt |
| Lemon Juice | Honey | Matcha Green Tea |
| Garcinia Cambogia Extract |
The label does not tell us specifically how much of each ingredient is in a teabag. This makes sense. Each teabag probably has slightly different amounts of each ingredient.
That said, we can take a guess at which ingredients are present the most (and least) by the order in which they are listed on the package.
- Ingredients listed first are likely present the most.
- Those at the end of the list are present the least.
When reading the table above, read it from left to right. For example, Fit Tea likely contains the most Rooibos (because it's listed first) and the least garcinia cambogia (because it's listed least). One caution to this is that when I checked the product's website, the ingredients were listed in a different order than they are on the package. I'll assume that the order depicted on the package is correct.
Also, see Dr. Bill Sukala's Fit Tea review
Let's now take a look at each ingredient.
Rooibos
Rooibos tea is the first ingredient listed. As such, it likely makes up most of each teabag. The scientific name for this plant is Aspalathus linearis. Other names for this include Bush Tea and Red Bush Tea. While the tea tends to be low in caffeine, it does contain vitamin C. Like all teas, rooibos is expected to have some antioxidant effects.
While many studies exist on rooibos tea, much of them involve lab animals or are basically test-tube studies.
Since the name of the supplement implies fitness, one human study, from 2010, did look at whether rooibos tea helped 23 college wrestlers re-hydrate better than water or a carbohydrate-containing drink, after the wrestlers had purposely lost about 3% of their body weight. In the end, rooibos tea was not better than water at improving hydration in these wrestlers.
Another study, involving 40 people, noted drinking 6 cups of rooibos tea for 6 weeks, significantly lowered both triglycerides and LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and raised HDL (good cholesterol) compared to a placebo.
That's very interesting. One wonders how it might work in conjunction with Bergamot which also has studies showing cholesterol-lowering effects.
Green Tea
Green tea is well known to those who take supplements. Green tea contains a variety of antioxidant compounds and is generally regarded as
healthy to drink. Green tea is a source of caffeine, unless it has been decaffeinated. The Fit Tea label does not tell if the green tea is decaffeinated or not.
Several weight loss supplements contain green tea. Just a few green tea containing products previously reviewed include:
See the reviews for more information on those supplements.
Green tea and its popular extract -EGCG – are often used for weight loss. But, studies are not always in agreement with whether it works or not. Some research say it works while other researchers say it doesn't. As proof of green teas effect on weight loss, the product website lists a study from 2005 titled Body weight loss and weight maintenance in relation to habitual caffeine intake and green tea supplementation.
In this clinical investigation, 76 overweight people. During the first 4 weeks of the study, the people lost weight on purpose. Then, during the next 3 months, the people tried to maintain their weight and were given either a placebo or a green tea-caffeine mixture. The mixture contained 150mg of caffeine along with 270mg of EGCG ( a popular extract of green tea).
These researchers noted that those who had the highest caffeine intake (from the supplement + what they consumed from soda, etc.), had significantly more weight loss and fat loss compared to those who took a placebo.
While this is interesting, how much caffeine is in Fit Tea? They don't tell us. Green tea is the second ingredient listed on the package and so that's good. It means that it might contain a good amount of caffeine.
If green tea helps weight loss, my hunch is that its a modest effect and it may be due to other ingredients in the plant besides the caffeine or some combination of ingredients.
One thing Fit Tea has going for it is that it contains tea, rather than an isolated extract like EGCG. In theory, that might provide a more broad spectrum of effects.
See the review of supplements and liver failure for more info.
Ginger
The scientific name for ginger is Zingiber officinale. Ginger is well known for having anti-inflammation properties. As such it sometimes shows up in arthritis supplements.
To evaluate why ginger is in Fit Tea, we would need to know the reason. The product website states that compounds in ginger “help calm the stomach acid. It also helps in toning the muscles of digestive tract.” If that is correct, could ginger be added to reduce any side GI side effects the might occur from the other ingredients? I'm not sure. This is speculation.
Does ginger help weight loss? One study gave either 2 grams of ginger – or a placebo – to 80 overweight women for 12 weeks. The women taking ginger showed significantly lower Body Mass Index (BMI), lower insulin levels and greater insulin sensitivity (that's good) compared to women taking a placebo.
Even though BMI was less in the ginger group, body composition (in other words, what made up the body mass) was not different between those taking the placebo. This might be a weakness with the study, which requires further investigation.
Pomegranate
The product website says that “Pomegranate is regarded to be one of the healthiest fruits in the universe, with its vast array of vitamins.” Pomegranate does have a lot of vitamins, and phyto-nutrients. My hunch is it's used for this reason and not for any specific weight loss benefits.
Oolong Tea
This tea -like green tea mentioned above – contains caffeine.
The product website mentions a 2001 study of Oolong tea and weight loss. the study involved 12 men of normal body weight, between the ages of 25-60. The men were subjected to 4 different treatments, each treatment lasting 3 days:
- Water only
- Full strength Oolong tea (15g of tea / 270 mg caffeine)
- Half strength Oolong tea (7.5g tea / 135 mg caffeine)
- Water containing 270mg caffeine
After the 3rd day of each treatment, energy expenditure (metabolism) was measured. This is basically how many calories were used by the people during a 24 hour time frame.
These researchers noted that full strength Oolong tea significantly increased calorie burning (metabolism) by 2.9% and the caffeine water treatment increased calorie burning (metabolism) by 3.4%. They also noted that fat burning was 12% higher when people used full strength tea and 8% when the men drank caffeinated water.
These results are interesting because they appear to show that even though Oolong tea didn't raise metabolic rate as much as caffeine did, it seemed to promote a greater degree of fat burning. That said, this study did not go on long enough to determine if weight loss occurred.
In a study from 2009, researchers gave 8 grams of oolong tea to 102 overweight people for 6 weeks. Those researchers reported that 70% of the people lost about 2 pounds and about 20% lost more than 6 pounds. This is interesting but the study had no placebo group. That is a limitation of the study.
Stevia
This is a sweetener in the tea.
Guarana
This compound contains caffeine. It's sometimes called “natural caffeine” but it's the same thing by whatever name it's referred to. Because it contains caffeine, guarana is used in many weight loss supplements.
Citric Acid
This is a compound found in many fruits and vegetables. My guess is it's added to either improve taste or to help preserve the product. Because it has acid properties, it can have a bad effect on tooth enamel as can anything else that has acid properties.
Like all foods containing acids, rinsing the mouth between use can reduce this from occurring. Citric acid is not found in Apple Cider Vinegar, which contains acetic acid. See that review for its weight loss evidence.
Sea Salt
The label states that sea salt is used for “electrolytes.” Electrolytes carry electrical signals from the nerves to the muscles. Because it's possible some people might go on a “Fit Tea Detox” or teatox where one would only drink the tea – and nothing else – I wonder if the addition of sea salt is to reduce the chances of side effects resulting from depletion of electrolytes? That is pure speculation.
Lemon Juice
This would be expected to add flavor to the tea as well as maybe proving some vitamin C and other electrolytes. It might also serve as a preservative and help improve the aroma of the tea.
Honey
This is a sweetener. Honey does contain calories but since the label tells us each cup of Fit Tea has zero calories, my hunch is there is not much honey in the product.
Matcha Green Tea
This is ground up green tea leaves. Matcha green tea often said to be a more powerful version of green tea because the entire plant is ground into a fine powder. Like green tea summarized above, it has caffeine and because the whole plant is used, it probably has a bit more caffeine and antioxidants than regular (non matcha) green tea.
Garcinia Cambogia Extract
What extract of garcinia cambogia are they using? They don't tell us. It's often called hydroxy citric acid (HCA), which is a reference to one of the extracts in the plant. Might that be the extract in Fit Tea? Regardless, garcinia cambogia is a popular weight loss ingredient in many supplements. It can also be purchased by itself too. Hydroxy citric acid is thought to help weight loss by preventing fat storage.
While garcinia cambogia continues to be hyped on the internet, I don't see any strong evidence it really works. When I previously reviewed the studies, I saw those saying it worked and other studies saying it didn't work.
This dependency could be due to several things such as problems with how the research was done to studies using the wrong amount or purity of the product used. Garcinia cambogia is the last ingredient listed so my guess is there is not much in it.
See the garcinia cambogia review for more insights.
Ingredients With Research
On the Fit Tea website they list clinical studies to support only 3 of the ingredients in the product. They are:
- Green Tea
- Oolong Tea
- Garcinia Cambogia
The product website lists one study to substantiate the benefits of each ingredient. To be fair, there are more than one study on each of these ingredients.
Ingredients With Caffeine
Here are the ingredients – in order as they appear on the label – that are believed to contain caffeine:
- Green tea
- Oolong
- Guarana
- Matcha Green Tea
How Much Caffeine In Fit Tea?
The product website does tell us that Fit Tea contains caffeine. However, we are not told how much. Total caffeine intake would depend on how many teabags one used per day. I don't know how much caffeine is in a single Fit Tea teabag.
Make Your Own Fit Tea
From the ingredients listed, these are, the different kinds of tea in the product:
- Rooibos tea
- Green tea
- Oolong tea
- Matcha green tea
Now that you know this, you could make homemade fit tea by brewing just these ingredients only. They are all available on Amazon.
Does Fit Tea Detox?
The product I purchased for this review said “14 Day Detox.” But what are you detoxing in those 14 days? In other words, what toxins is Fit Tea removing from the body? I'm not sure. The word detox is vague and by itself doesn't tell us much.
To know if the tea really were helping us get rid of something, we would have to know what that something was. Then we could test to see if that compound really was being removed from the body.
Fit Tea And Weight Loss
Does Fit Tea help weight loss? That really would depend on how many calories you were consuming. For example, if you drank Fit Tea, while eating pizza, then my guess is it probably wouldn't help. If, on the other hand, you drank Fit Tea while eating more fruits and veggies and reducing portion size of what you ate, then yes I'm pretty sure it would work.
If you only drank the tea -and nothing else -I'm sure that would work too because fit tea has very few calories. At the end of the day, it's still about calories.
So, does Fit Tea really work? The company that makes the product has been under some scrutiny concerning its online testimonies. Testimonies from celebrities aside, if the product truly works, I think its mostly because people are reducing calories while they drink the tea.
Does Fit Tea Boost Energy?
Fit Tea has several ingredients that have caffeine, which is a well known stimulant. So, yes I'd expect Fit Tea to improve energy and focus the same way that coffee or other caffeinated beverages would. Oolong tea appears to have an effect on metabolism that may be separate from its caffeine content.
With respect to Oolong tea, I think we need to a couple of bigger studies (more people) to know for sure what might be going on. When it comes to boosting energy, I think its mostly about the caffeine.
Fit Tea Taste
How does Fit Tea taste? When you open the package, you can smell the lemon as well as other scents in the product. I admit, I did not like the smell. The teabags themselves don't have little strings on the end like other tea bags you might be used to
The teabags also don't contain powdered tea either; The contents of the teabags I have are gritty and chunks can easily be seen, as in the picture provided above.
For my Fit Tea taste test, I used 1 teabag in hot water, steeping it for 5 minutes as was directed. I did not add any honey or other sweeteners to it. As can be seen from the picture, Fit Tea has an orange-ish look to it. The smell is not bad and it's less intense than smelling the dry tea bag.
I did not like the taste. It didn't taste bad but I would not want to drink it unsweetened all day either. I didn't detect any aftertaste.
Taste is a personal thing and I respect those with other opinions. It just wasn't for me.
What Are The Sweeteners?
Here are what I believe to be the sweeteners in the tea:
- Stevia
- Citric Acid
- Sea salt (maybe)
- Lemon juice
When I tasted Fit Tea, it did not have a sweet taste. Some might want to add sweeteners to improve the taste.
Where Do The Ingredients Come From?
Their customer support states that while some of the ingredients are from the US, others are from outside the US. The product website also tells us that Fit Tea is Non GMO, gluten and dairy free, soy free and complies with FDA Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP).
Fit Tea vs. Fit Coffee?
The company that makes Fit Tea also has other products as well, one of which is called Fit Coffee. How is it different? Here's a side-by-side comparison of each:
| Fit Tea | Fit Coffee |
|---|---|
| Rooibos | Dark Arabica Coffee |
| Green Tea | Green Tea |
| Ginger | Orange |
| Pomegranate | Rose |
| Oolong Tea | Stevia |
| Stevoa | Garcinia Cambogia |
| Guarana | |
| Citric Acid | |
| Sea Salt | |
| Lemon Juice | |
| Honey | |
| Matcha Green Tea | |
| Garcinia Cambogia |
As can be seen, garcinia cambogia is the last ingredient in both products. This says to me the makers might view garcinia as important to any weight loss effects the product might have. See the garcinia section above and this garcinia cambogia review for more information.
Who Makes Fit Tea?
The company is called “Fit Tea” although another name is Fit Products LLC. When I spoke to their online chat representative, I was told their address is PO Box 547576 Orlando, FL 32854.
An online search also turned up another address: 8001 S Orange Blossom Trail Orlando, FL 32809. This address corresponds to the Florida Mall and may be an older address. Searching the alls directory did not turn up a business for this company so whether or not this is where the company is located, is not known.
The Better Business Bureau gave Fit Tea a rating of “F” when this review was updated. See the BBB file for updates and more information.
Contact Fit Tea
The company website provides this contact number: 321-270-0033.
Their online chat provided this contact address: PO BOX 547576 Orlando, FL 32854.
The product website also has a handy online chat feature that has very helpful customer service reps.
Fit Tea Side Effects
At the time this review was created, no side effects were known regarding Fit Tea. I think it's likely safe in healthy people. That said, here are some things to consider if using the product. This list is not complete:
- Start with less than is recommended for the first week. This is to see how you respond.
- Speak to your doctor if you are breastfeeding or pregnant or take any medications
- Stop at least 2 weeks before having surgery
- Because it contains caffeine, don't drink Fit Tea before bedtime
One report hints that rooibos tea, might cause liver problems in some people. In this case report, a 37-year-old man developed liver problems after drinking 10 cups of rooibos tea for over a year. That's a lot of tea and I doubt most people would be drinking that much.
Garcinia cambogia has been implicated in causing liver damage, sometimes requiring liver transplant. Previous case reports on this issue involved supplements containing many ingredients. This makes pinning down the exact culprit of the liver problems difficult. In other words, was it garcinia Cambogia or something else that caused these problems?
In 2016, a report was published, which told the story of a 34-year-old male who needed a liver transplant. He reported taking two 80 mg capsules of “Swanson Premium Brand Garcinia Cambogia 5:1 Extract.” This product only contained garcinia Cambogia extract.
While I think the overall risk might be low, this report adds to the growing speculation that garcinia Cambogia extracts might be harmful to the livers of some people. My guess is there is very little garcinia in Fit Tea since it's listed last among the ingredients.
Does Fit Tea Work?
If you just drink tea -and nothing else – to lose weight, I have no doubt it will work. The same thing would happen if you just drink water too because both are low in calories. I believe tea has its place in a healthy lifestyle and if you like the taste of this product, then enjoy it. Will Fit Tea give you more energy? Yes and that's likely because of the caffeine. Is Fit Tea better than other teas? I don't think so. Does Fit Tea improve fitness? Not without exercise, I'd say.