What should you drink when trying to lose weight? Many people think that lemon water is the only drink for weight loss. In fact, there are several other beverages that, when combined with exercise and a healthy lifestyle, can also accelerate fat burning.

　　Many people trying to lose weight consider lemon water an indispensable daily beverage. In reality, no single drink can magically reduce weight. However, some drinks, when combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle, can make weight loss twice as effective. The following seemingly ordinary drinks actually have fat-burning properties.

　　coffee

　　Coffee is a natural energy drink. Studies show that compared to exercising without any caffeine, drinking a cup of coffee before exercise can make people exercise longer and harder, thus burning more calories. People who drink coffee before going to the gym use the leg machine 20% more times than those who don't, but remember that only black coffee has this effect.

　　ice water

　　Replace lemon slices with ice cubes in lemonade; plain water can also be a fat-burning drink. When ice water is consumed, the body generates more energy to raise its body temperature back to normal. Drinking three glasses of ice water (about 700 ml) daily can help the body burn an extra 100 calories, potentially leading to a weight loss of nearly 5 kilograms over a year.

　　It should be noted that if an individual has a constitution that is too weak and cold, they can also drink slimming drinks other than ice water, which can also help reduce fat and lower weight.

　　green tea

　　People who drink four cups of any tea daily (approximately 235 grams per cup) lose about 3 kilograms more in two months compared to those who only drink room-temperature water, assuming all other dietary and lifestyle habits remain the same. Scientists believe this is due to the catechins, caffeine, and other antioxidants in tea.

　　To lose more kilograms, do not add sugar to your tea. Also, avoid purchasing green tea supplements of unknown origin to prevent liver damage.

　　Orange juice

　　Orange juice contains phytosterols, chemical substances with a structure similar to cholesterol. These phytosterols can compete with cholesterol for absorption in the intestines, thereby lowering the level of cholesterol in the blood. Other studies have indicated that a daily intake of 2-3 grams of phytosterols can lower bad cholesterol by 6-15% without affecting good cholesterol.

　　Lowering bad cholesterol can also help reduce body fat.

　　However, whether you're drinking commercially available orange juice or making your own, be careful about the sugar content. The World Health Organization recommends that free sugars (including added sugars, as well as naturally occurring monosaccharides and disaccharides in honey, syrups, fruit juices, and concentrated fruit juices) should not exceed 10% of your total daily calories. For example, with the average daily calorie intake of 1800 kcal for Taiwanese people, the recommended daily sugar intake is 45 grams (10%) and 22.5 grams (5%).

　　Hawthorn drink

　　Hawthorn has the effects of removing blood stasis and reducing fat. Regular consumption of hawthorn-containing drinks can help lower cholesterol and triglycerides. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine often uses hawthorn as a main ingredient in various fat-reducing drinks. Interestingly, research has found that hawthorn's mechanism of action is not in blocking the body's absorption of cholesterol, but in accelerating its clearance. Therefore, when hawthorn is combined with a high-fat diet, its fat-reducing effect is not significant. However, once the high-fat diet is stopped and hawthorn drinks are consumed simultaneously, blood fat levels drop rapidly.

　　However, the acidity of hawthorn may cause gastrointestinal discomfort. People with a cold constitution or stomach ulcers should consult a doctor before drinking hawthorn to help with weight loss.