Laxative herbal teas are tea-like mixtures, which contain phytotherapeutic active ingredients that help to easily empty the intestine. Many people use these laxative teas to lose weight, and not just to fight constipation.

Among these laxative herbal teas we find some products on the market known as “teatox”, that is purifying and slimming teas, and a blend known abroad as “Smooth move Tea”, the laxative herbal tea par excellence.

These laxative teas often combine the action of sennosides (active ingredients found in the herbs Senna, Frangula, Aloe Ferox, Cascara Sagrada) with spices such as cardamom or cinnamon and roots such as licorice.

Laxative herbal teas for weight loss don’t work, however.

They do lose weight, but this weight loss is the result of more frequent gastric emptying.
And like any laxative, this gastric emptying, for which we can go to the bathroom even three or four times a day, obviously leads us to have one or two kilos less on the scale. There is also an effect of less food absorption and therefore a reduction in calories, but it is poor: it is a bit like giving up two cookies a day.

However, they do not help you lose body fat, and should only be used for short periods, for example for one or two weeks straight.

There are two reasons why they cannot be used as a remedy to lose weight permanently.

• On the one hand, the sennosides present in laxative herbal teas work by recalling water in the intestine.

  But this mechanical action makes our colon lazy if we abuse it, or use laxative teas for too long. Therefore, those who use laxative herbal teas for prolonged periods will then have difficulty going to the bathroom naturally.

• On the other hand, they are not free from side effects.

  You may have mild abdominal cramps, runny stools, belly bloating. Belly swelling is the result of an electrolyte imbalance, or a loss of minerals, including sodium and magnesium.

On a scientific level, positive effects have also been found in the short term. These herbal teas have a high content of flavonoids, antioxidant substances. Furthermore, sennosides, such as Cascara Sagrada, have an antibacterial effect.

They work as antibiotics against intestinal inflammation caused by bacteria, viruses and even parasites.
If we are inflamed in the intestine due to any bacterial problem or virus (for example we have an infection with Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aerogenes and Staphylococcus aureus), take 3 days of treatment with laxative herbal teas with sennosides before antibiotic makes the action of the latter more effective. Anyone who has had to deal with one of these infections knows that the antibiotic course is not always decisive.

Those who need to try laxative herbal teas for this or to resolve constipation, can use them from 3 days to a week, and then reduce the administration by half and finally try to do it only every other day to get the colon used to its natural motility.