Another name for Oolong Tea is Wu long, which is made from the leaves of Camellia Sinensis that are found to be abundant in polyphenols, chemical compounds that are beneficial in relieving stress to the leaves. The polyphenols in Camellia Sinensis leaves include the flavanoids, another powerful antioxidant.

There are three classifications of tea-green, black and oolong-that are derived from Camella Sinensis. The difference is the manner of preparation. Green tea is prepared by heating in order to stop the natural enzymatic reaction of the leaf. After drying, green tea leaves are rolled to break the cell structure. Thetea has different steps. After plucking the leaves off Camella Sinensis plants, they are not intentionally broken. In fact, the leaves' cellular structure must be intact.

There are two ways to be effective in burning fats. The first way is to increase energy expenditure. The other way is to inhibit the absorption of nutrients, particularly fat and carbohydrates. Caffeine is also associated with teas, and it is widely accepted that it is an effective stimulant, especially when it comes to metabolism.

For thousands of years, Chinese had been banking on oolong tea, and they believed that it is beneficial in reduction and maintenance of weight. In 1998, Chinese studied on 102 females displayed that regular consumption of oolong tea for 6 weeks led to a reduction of body weight. This result spurred deeper study on oolong.

In 2001, Dr. William Rumpler, a physiologist at US Agriculture Research Services' Diet and Human Laboratory investigated the ancient traditional belief that oolong is effective in burning fats. The study centered on measuring the influence of oolong to energy expenditure on 12 male volunteers who were given 4 separate beverage formulas for three consecutive days.

The beverage formulas composed of:
1. Full strength of oolong tea
2. Caffeinated water with caffeine that is equivalent to full strength oolong tea
3. Medium strength of oolong tea
4. Non-caffeinated water

After 24 hours, their energy expenditure increased by 3% when they drank either full strength of the tea or the caffeinated water. Also, the participants burned around 67 calories in a day when they drank the full strength of oolong tea. With these findings, researchers noted that it does not need to be expensive to accelerate the burning of fats.

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