Figuring out the best way to improve your health is often difficult. There are simply so many different options to choose from, including weight loss products, supplements and systems.
One particularly interesting idea is the concept of detox teas, which have become increasingly popular. I’ve reviewed two of these teas in the past: Flat Tummy Tea and Fit Tea.
This post takes that topic one step further and considers Flat Tummy Tea vs Fit Tea.
After all, the two teas have some significant similarities and differences. You need to understand both to figure out which tea is going to work for you.
What Are the Teas?
Fit Tea tends to be promoted as a detox product, in either a 14-day or 28-day form.
According to the company’s hype, the tea is supposed to help you get less bloated and also make weight loss easier.
The company also uses many before and after images, along with various endorsements to make the tea sound amazing.
In many ways, Flat Tummy Tea is similar.
And again, there is no shortage of marketing.
But, in this post, we’re taking a detailed look at Flat Tummy Tea vs Fit Tea, to see what the actual differences are.
After all, marketing aside, the two types of tea are different products with varying ingredients. As a result, the effects they have on the body may be different too.
Flat Tummy Tea vs Fit Tea: The Similarities
Both products heavily rely on the idea of detoxing and the concept that doing so can help with weight loss.
This is their key similarity and the reason why many people might turn to the teas.
Now, there is significant evidence that tea itself is healthy, especially when you consider green tea. Likewise, some methods of brewing tea may be especially good for you, depending on the tea that you've chosen.
There are also many great options for healthy tea online, including green tea.
But, the focus on detox tea isn't really about the tea itself. Instead, it's on the idea that detoxing is good for health.
There are actually countless products on the market that perform a similar role and, when done with tea, the process is sometimes known as teatoxing.
It became popular in around the middle of 2015 and there is still some interest in the idea.
As with detoxing itself, the approach is incredibly controversial.
Basically, detoxing means that you are getting rid of toxins from your body. Well, in theory anyway.
However, nobody is actually sure about what toxins you’re expelling (1). As a result, there’s no way to actually measure whether a given detox (or teatox) is effective or not.
In many ways, ‘detox’ is just a marketing term and companies vary in precisely how they define it (2). This is something the site Paleo Plan covers in more depth.
For that matter, the idea of detoxing doesn’t make a lot of sense. Our bodies have the ability to remove toxins effectively on their own, through the action of the liver (3,4,5).
Now, in fairness, there are some compounds that the body can’t get rid of on its own, such as heavy metals, which can accumulate in fat tissue (6,7,8). However, there is no evidence that detoxing can remove those compounds either.
For that matter, there is no reason to think that it would. The actual concept of detoxing mostly just revolves around the idea of cleaning out your body.
In most cases, this means that a detox tea or supplement will have one or more laxative agents. As such, both Flat Tummy Tea and Fit Tea will increase bowel movements.
By doing so, the teas may even contribute to a flat belly, simply because you’re losing some water in the process.
However, what this means for health is less clear.
Simply emptying your body more than normal won’t necessarily remove toxins. In fact, you could easily remove good bacteria in the process, which could compromise your health.
Basically, there’s no scientific evidence that detoxes benefit your health at all.
Sure, they might make you feel better and less bloated, but that’s partly the placebo effect. Additionally, you do get a similar outcome from a major bowel movement, so the pattern really isn’t that surprising.
For that matter, there are some major concerns that detoxes could harm you.
In particular, anything with a laxative effect could damage the stomach lining, especially if consumed over an extended period of time. Likewise, there is a range of other side effects associated with abuse of laxatives (9).
Even though a detox tea is not the same as taking a laxative, the end result is often similar.
This can be a major issue if you plan to take a detox tea for an extended length of time.
On a side note, detox products can be fairly challenging to consume.
They do contain laxative components after all and, for some people, the effects can be dramatic. For example, you might find that you have diarrhea each time you take it, as one user found.
This can be particularly problematic if you’re taking the detox tea at night (which you are actually supposed to do with Flat Tummy Tea). It’s easy to see how this could affect your sleep and that wouldn’t help your health any either.
Of course, the effects of detox teas do vary.
Some people find them more intense than others. But, either way, you can expect some inconvenience.
If the teas actually offered the health benefits they suggest – the issues may be worth it. However, as I mentioned above, there is nothing to indicate that detoxing works. Likewise, forcing your body to expel more than it would normally may cause negative effects (10).
Detoxing is mostly a marketing concept and there is little evidence that it helps your health at all. For that matter, long-term detoxing could be dangerous
The Tea System
Flat Tummy Tea contains three different products, which are all types of tea.
These are referred to as Activate, Cleanse and Maintain.
The products aren’t sold individually and instead you can buy two types of pack.
From these, the FT Four/Two difference just refers to how many weeks of supplement you get, as the image below shows.
With this system, the idea is that you’re taking Activate tea in the morning, while you take the Cleanse at the end of the day.
Now, the company recommends that you follow a cycle like this:
So, you’re sticking to the Activate/Maintain combination most of the time but every 3 months you do the Activate/Cleanse combination.
The key reason is that the Cleanse tea is the most intense and it has a laxative function. As a result, it isn’t safe or healthy to have that tea consistently each day.
So, the Activate tea from that set is mostly focused on providing energy.
While the Cleanse detoxes:
Personally, I don’t like the idea of taking a detox product at night and it’s easy to see how this would disrupt your sleeping. But, while this may be an issue for some people, it may not be for others.
Finally, the Maintain tea is mostly used to replace the Cleanse on the months that you’re not using that.
In contrast, Fit Tea is just a single tea.
So, it’s simpler to buy and also easier to use.
Flat Tummy Tea is a fairly complex system involving three different types of tea. In contrast, Fit Tea is just a single product
Cost Differences
With the significant differences in plans, it shouldn’t be any surprise that Flat Tummy Tea vs Fit Tea costs are different as well.
For Flat Tummy Tea, the monthly subscription costs around $45 and the products are a little more expensive individually.
That’s a lot of money to pay for tea.
However, Fit Tea isn’t a lot better. For example, their 28-day version is $48, although it is slightly cheaper on Amazon.
But, either way, you’re paying upwards of $40 per month, regardless of the product you choose or where you buy it from.
Both types of tea are expensive and cost upwards of $40 per month
Individual Ingredients
The ingredients are another key area to consider when looking at Flat Tummy Tea vs Fit Tea.
Both products heavily rely on natural compounds.
In particular, the ingredients for the three versions of Flat Tummy Tea look like this:
I’ve covered these ingredients in detail within my individual Flat Tummy Tea review, so I’m not going to do the same here.
However, the general idea is that some of these herbs are associated with health benefits, weight loss or energy. Nevertheless, the evidence tends to be fairly limited and the effect typically isn’t strong.
Likewise, there is some connection between caffeine and weight loss. But, the teas aren't particularly high in caffeine anyway and you can get this benefit from many different products (including coffee).
Of these, Senna is an FDA-approved laxative, so it’s no wonder that these teas increase bowel movements (11). In contrast, the ingredients for Fit Tea look like this:
Once again, these ingredients were discussed in my Fit Tea review, so I’m not going to go into them here. But, the same general pattern is present.
Fit Tea also tends to strongly rely on traditional teas (green tea and oolong) for the main ingredients, while Flat Tummy Tea doesn’t. In fact, only one type of Flat Tummy Tea even contains green tea and none contain black tea.
Theoretically, the differences in ingredients could mean that Flat Tummy Tea offers more health benefits, especially as the emphasis seems to be on these outcomes more than taste.
Still, there is limited research, so it’s difficult to know what the health differences between the two teas truly are.
Flat Tummy Tea and Fit Tea rely heavily on herbs that may have some health benefits. Additionally, two of the teas from Flat Tummy Tea have Senna, which acts as a laxative
Impacts on Bowel Movements
Both teas are designed to detox and promote weight loss. However, their choices of ingredients mean that the effects will differ.
In particular, the Flat Tummy Tea contains Senna, which is recognized and even approved as a laxative.
On the other hand, Fit Tea doesn’t have any ingredients that have the same effect. Some ingredients may still promote bowel movements but the effect isn’t likely to be as strong.
The ability to promote bowel movements isn't necessarily a good thing anyway. For example, the site Net Doctor highlights some of the side effects and risks associated with laxative teas.
Flat Tummy Tea contains a laxative, so it would have a greater effect on bowel movements. But, in the long-term, that outcome isn't necessarily a good thing
Weight Loss Outcomes
Both teas are promoted as ways to lose weight but when it comes to comparing Flat Tummy Tea vs Fit Tea, they’re actually fairly similar.
In particular, both types of tea have some ingredients that have been somewhat associated with weight loss.
Garcinia Cambogia extract is one example of this (12,13,14) and green tea itself is another (15,16,17).
However, the evidence for these effects tends to be on the slim side.
Likewise, it’s clear that they don’t have a dramatic impact on weight loss. After all, there are countless diet supplements on the market, including green tea extract.
Yet, there’s no evidence that any of these supplements truly do have dramatic impacts. As a result, the ingredients themselves are unlikely to either.
Now, in fairness, you would lose some weight simply because you’re increasing your bowel movements.
That isn’t a type of weight loss that you actually want and it certainly doesn’t have long term potential.
The one other thing is that you are supposed to eat and live healthily for these teas.
As a result, most of the weight loss benefits and testimonials that you see will probably be the result of the behavior and lifestyle decisions, rather than the tea itself.
Because of this, the two types of tea are going to be fairly similar for long-term weight loss outcomes.
It is possible that some of the herbal ingredients would help with weight loss. But, if you wanted that, you could just focus on an herbal tea instead of a detox one.
Some aspects of the teas may be able to help with weight loss. But, for the most part, this isn't likely to be long-term and healthy weight loss
Do They Work?
I take a fairly negative view about both of these brands of tea, mostly because the evidence isn’t in.
At the same time, both brands heavily rely on hype and celebrity endorsement. The end result is that they sound amazing and aren’t likely to live up to their claims.
To some degree, both teas probably do promote bowel movements and may even contribute to some weight loss as a result.
But, you’re not going to see the ‘amazing’ benefits that the hype implies.
Nevertheless, tea leaves themselves contain a large number of different compounds. This is particularly true for green tea, which is widely recognized as a health drink. Both Flat Tummy Tea and Fit Tea add in additional ingredients as well.
With this in mind, there could easily be some health benefits to the teas.
However, those benefits would come from the herbs, not the detox component.
Additionally, I recommend avoiding the teas that contain Senna. Taking laxative products on a daily basis is never a good plan for health and you could put yourself at risk of serious side effects.
For that matter, formal recommendations say that Senna is unsafe for more than 10 days at a time (18) and a similar outcome is true for laxatives in general.
With that in mind, Fit Tea appears to win in the debate of Flat Tummy Tea vs Fit Tea. And, if you are going to use Flat Tummy Tea, try to mostly rely on the Activate version, which doesn’t contain Senna.
Still, at the end of the day, you may get more health benefits from options like green tea and yerba mate tea. By doing so, you're getting the advantage of many natural compounds, without having to worry about potential negative effects from increased bowel movements.
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Hi Vince,
As usual, I enjoy reading your posts because they are very insightful and objective and help the visitor to decide for themselves.
I’ve taken detox products before and as you mentioned in your post, I experienced cramping abdominal pains and diarrhea; however, at the end of a few weeks, I lost nearly 1 Kg. I haven’t tried detox tea yet and I’m considering using it. After reading your review on Fit Tea (in another post), I think it would be the next one on my list.
I look forward to reading more from you.
Thanks for reading the post and for your comment.
You may have experienced some weight loss benefits with detox products but be aware that this is probably a short-term outcome. Detox products simply don’t promote healthy long-term weight loss and most of the weight you will have lost would be water, rather than fat.
Hey Vince,
Wow that increase in trend really got my attention! I love tea and my favourite is green tea and jasmine because they increase my metabolic rate but now I think its high time I go into detox tea.
Out of curiosity though, is there any side effects if I overdrink tea? I generally drink 4 cups a day but my colleague told me that drinking too much would make my immune system messed up so i’m a bit worried
For most people, there aren’t significant side effects if you drink too much tea, unless you were drinking something like 10 cups in a day. Certainly, too much tea isn’t going to have an impact on your immune system.
But, that being said, there could be dramatic side effects if you drink a lot of detox tea or if you use detox tea over an extended period of time. In many ways, doing so is like relying on laxatives and certainly isn’t good for your overall health.
Great information here. I’ve heard of using tea to help lose weight but never really knew how it worked. I didn’t know it could have the same effects as a laxative, which could cause issues down the line, good to know that now. It doesn’t seem to be as great as its advertised too, but guess thats the point! I was considering trying it before but not anymore, thanks for the information!
There is some evidence that drinking tea itself can help with weight loss. If nothing else, simply having a low calorie hot drink regularly may help some people. Likewise, some of the compounds could potentially have some impact – especially in green tea.
But, products like these aren’t likely to be any more powerful than regular tea. In fact, that laxative effect can cause some serious complications, especially in the long-term. Besides, increasing your excretion may help with the scales but it isn’t actually going to lead to weight loss.
It’s pretty normal for nutritional and weight loss companies to hype up their products. It’s also very convincing despite the advertisers not being able to prove either Fit Tea or Flat Tummy Tea will stop bloating/lose weight. I don’t know much about detoxing, but I wasn’t expecting both of them to use a monthly subscription package yikes. To actually remove toxins requires over-the-counter drugs/prescriptions.
One of the biggest problems is that the hype will convince many people. So, people end up buying this type of tea and are convinced that it will dramatically change their weight.
Yet, they end up with an expensive product that could even result in health risks, especially as some of these teas contain laxative effects.