Although green tea has been enjoyed as a beverage for thousands of years, it has seen a resurgence in popularity during the 1990s and 2000s as a weight loss supplement. Sometimes aggressive charged as a "miracle weight loss East", this tea can help support your weight loss efforts. However, it may be bitter - a fact that leads some to want to lighten the flavor with added sugar. The basics of weight loss No matter what methods you use to lose weight, pounds loss is based on a physiological fact unique. If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. If you burn more than you eat, you lose weight. You can create the right caloric imbalance by reducing the calories you take and / or increasing those that you put on. Green tea may play a role on both sides of the equation. Green tea contains two major types of compounds that help lose weight. Stimulants, primarily caffeine to give you energy and cause your body's metabolism to burn calories faster. In this way