Oolong is a traditional Chinese type of tea. The term "oolong" means "raven dragon" in Chinese. Consumption of oolong tea was first recorded around the third century B.C. when a famous Chinese doctor recommended it for increasing one's alertness. It has also been suggested that oolong tea can promote fat loss. So, a recent study at the Agricultural University of Poznan in Poland examined whether oolong tea reduces body fat in boxers and wrestlers. Forty-six male athletes were randomly given either oolong tea extract capsules or placebo (inactive fake supplements) for six weeks. oolong tea supplement provided 172 milligrams of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and 138.2 milligrams of caffeine per day.

The results of this study revealed that the body fat reduction was significantly higher in the oolong tea group than in the placebo group. Specifically, both boxers and wrestlers lost about 1.1 kilograms of bodyweight. However, the authors didn't tell how much the placebo group actually lost, but the difference was statistically significant. This study was published as a conference poster, so not all study details are available. According to the authors, "These results suggested that oolong tea extracts can be recommended as natural dietary supplement useful for maintaining low content of body fat in athletes."

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Reference: Jeszka J et al. The effect of Oolong tea supplementation on body

composition in boxing and wrestling athletes. Obesity Reviews, 2006:7(Suppl. 2): 301-302.