Diet Pills Vs. Detox Teas: Which Is Better?

If you're currently trying to lose weight, you have a ton of options. There are diet plans (like Weight Watchers), fitness bracelets, calorie counting apps for your phone, and so much more. Of course, the oldest and most popular method for trying to lose weight is by taking diet pills. Lately though, detox teas have taken the weight loss market by storm as well. But which is a better method for losing weight? Diet pills, or detox teas? Below, will weigh the pros and cons of both of these weight loss methods. By the end of this article, you'll have enough information to make an informed decision for yourself.

Reasons to Be on #TeamDietPill

Maybe you're not a big fan of tea. Maybe you're weary of what exactly a "detox" tea will do to your body. Or maybe you're just a huge fan of supplements. If so, then you're probably more likely to be on #teamdietpill then a fan of detox teas. And you know what? There are a few reasons why this might be a good decision for some people.

For starters, it's certainly a lot quicker and easier to swallow a pill then it is to brew a cup or a whole pot of tea. Secondly, there are a lot of diet pills out there which contain ingredients that are difficult, if not impossible, to include in your typical tea mix. Some extracts that come to mind are Garcinia Cambogia or raspberry ketones. Either one of those two botanicals are great for helping you lose weight, but finding them in tea form is rare and can be prohibitively expensive; their diet pill forms, however, are affordable and effective.

Lastly, when you take a natural ingredient and grind it up so that you can stuff it into a capsule, you're getting a more concentrated form of that ingredient. But brewing tea leaves only allows so many of the antioxidants and flavanols to leech into your beverage. As you can see, there are some limitations to detox teas which might make a diet pill more effective and more convenient, depending on what your needs may be.

Reasons to Join #TeamDetoxTea

On the other hand, there are a myriad of reasons why you might want to jump on #TeamDetoxTea. In many ways, it may actually make more sense to boost your weight loss efforts with a detox tea than with a diet pill.

When it comes to a detox tea, there's much less mystery involved as far as knowing whether or not you're getting the ingredients that are advertised on the label. For all you know, your diet pill could be filled with 97% sawdust and only specs of the main ingredients. With tea, on the other hand, all you have to do is look at the tea bag to know what is and isn't inside. It's transparency at the highest level.

Furthermore, although it takes a little extra time to prepare, you get to savor a fresh, steaming cup of detox tea instead of unceremoniously popping a pill. And in more ways than one, this can help you consume fewer calories during the day in ways that some diet pills can't. Assuming you either drink it straight or add a zero calorie sweetener, that cup of tea could replace a high calorie beverage you would otherwise be drinking if you had taken a diet pill instead. And while that may not seem like much of a caloric savings, it can really add up in the long run.

Furthermore, there's the whole body benefit that you get from drinking a detox tea that very few diet pills can actually provide. Detox teas have a powerful influence on several different physiological systems in your body. They target liver health, kidney health, adrenal health, colon health, your metabolism, and thermogenesis (the rate at which your body burns calories), just to name a few. To get identical benefits from a diet pill, you'd have to take more than one. And buying several supplements as opposed to just one box of detox tea can quickly become prohibitively expensive. Not to mention that there are tangential benefits to drinking tea that you won't get from a diet pill. Many of the organic, botanical ingredients that you'll find it a bag of detox tea are also great for your cognitive function and neurological health. How many diet pills can do that for you, in addition to helping you lose weight? Very few.

Finally, let's talk about the elephant in the room: caffeine. 9 Out of 10 diet pills rely upon caffeine as their main active ingredient. Some diet pills are little more and then amphetamine drugs cleverly disguised as healthy weight loss supplements. Either way, relying on powerful chemical stimulants in order to help you lose weight is just like playing russian roulette - it's hard to predict whether or not it will do you harm. With tea, on the other hand, it's easier to control how much caffeine you will be exposed to. Yes, most detox teas contain caffeinated tea leaves (especially varieties of green tea). But the caffeine content of these teas is far and away much lower than what you will find in a typical diet pill. Plus, if your detox tea feels too strong, you can easily reduce the amount of caffeine you're exposed to by steeping the bag for a shorter amount of time, or diluting your serving by mixing it with water. With a detox tea, the power is in your hands.

The Final Verdict

At the end of the day, it's all about your preferences, what your specific diet and exercise needs are, and your own personal circumstances. But most of our weight loss experts agree that overall, it seems as though detox teas have a bit of a leg up on their diet pill competition - especially when you're talking about the first couple of weeks of a new diet and exercise regimen. But feel free to evaluate multiple products, diet pills and detox teas alike, and decide for yourself! For our review of one new detox tea, click here.