Please note: This post is now almost 3 years old and no longer represents my view on “teatoxes” or any kind of product advertising “detox” properties. For the sake of transparency I have not removed it, but I strongly recommend against the use of any kind of laxative products, or any “detox” product as in my experience they all tend to be marketing scams. I’ve written more about this here, but if you’d like to know more, feel free to drop me an email.
The word “teatox” is becoming more and more widely known in the health food community, and on social media in general. I lost count of how many teatoxes I’ve seen flooding my Instagram feed so when YourTea contacted me regarding their Tiny Tea 14 Day Teatox I was very sceptical at first. Personally I feel this obsession with detoxing your body has gone slightly too far, to the point where people now think it’s ok to go crazy on the weekend because on Monday morning they can get their green juice and “detox”, which somehow reverses time and eradicates all the negative effects on their body. On top of that I know a lot of these teatoxes I saw contained laxatives, and friends of mine who tried them said the side effects were less than desirable.
But then I researched YourTea to find out more information about the Tiny Tea Teatox and I immediately accepted. The tea is made from a blend of herbs based on traditional Chinese medicine, it is designed to bring your body back into balance rather than forcing it into an unnatural state that cannot be maintained, and best of all it is the only herbal cleanse on the market without a laxative effect. I was sold. The instructions are simple: just drink the tea warm 3 times a day, preferably 30 minutes before each meal.
The good:
YourTea claim that the teatox will “assist with reducing weight, easing bloating, increasing digestion functionality, improving skin clarity, increasing energy levels and alleviate issues associated with food intolerances”. I was still partly suffering from the effects the exam period had on me, but I have to say that after 14 days on the teatox I was less bloated, I had very few digestive issues, my skin had improved, and my energy levels were up. (Note: I don’t know if I lost weight because I don’t weigh myself at the moment). It wasn’t an overnight change of course, and it wasn’t perfect, but the differences were noticeable enough for me. I also had no unpleasant side effects, and definitely noticed no laxative effects which was a relief! Finally, the tea tastes great! I was not expecting this at all; I presumed that such a healthy blend of herbs was bound to taste “healthy” and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to stand drinking it 3 times a day. For those of you familiar with the intricacies of herbal teas will understand what I mean when I say it has quite an Asian taste that has no one particular flavour that stands out above the rest.
The bad:
Unfortunately I’m a busy person, I’ve been travelling on a lot of trains, and visited various parts of the UK whilst on the teatox. This made it difficult for me to remember or be able to drink the tea 3 times a day. To be perfectly honest a lot of the days I only had 2 out of the 3 cups. However it still worked for me as I tend to be quite sensitive to these things so it wasn’t the end of the world. But if you’re a busy person that’s always out and about it can be tricky. My tip: take a jar full of tea bags with you wherever you go so you’re never missing out unnecessarily. The only other problem I had is that just over a week in I started craving other types and flavours of tea rather than having the same one every day. But this might just be me being awkward – I never usually have the same tea twice in one day, so my taste buds are a bit spoilt 😉
In short, I’m not claiming this teatox is a miracle cure, and if you drink it you won’t magically have a flat stomach after 14 days. It’s designed to work with a healthy diet and exercise, so if you eat junk food and lie on the sofa all day it won’t do anything for you. But the beauty of it is that it has the potential to inspire people to embark on a healthy journey just for this reason, and seeing as the pros totally outweigh the cons, I would say this is definitely a worthwhile investment for your health!
Find out more on their website here: http://www.yourtea.com/
Note: The 14 day Tiny Tea Teatox was sent to me by YourTea in exchange for a fair and honest review. I have stayed true to my word and all opinions are entirely unbiased and my own.