One story had it that a tea plantation boss was scared away from drying tea leaves by the appearance of a large menacing black snake resembling a small dragon. When he finally plucked up enough courage and returned to his tea plantation a few days later, the leaves had been oxidized by the sun and produced a delightful beverage when brewed. Others say that the tea is called 'wu long' because the leaves look like little black dragons when hot water is poured onto them.

The Oolong is tea commonly served in Chinese restaurants all over the world for its excellent accompaniment to dim sum and almost all Chinese food. Like most Chinese and Japanese tea, wu long tea is unsweetened and goes very well with authentic Chinese and Japanese cuisines.

In recent years, the weight loss medical world have been jolted by some claims that Japanese scientists have found that the wu long tea have excellent weight loss ingredients. Since then, sales of the Wu-Long tea skyrocketed in the Chinese and Japanese community so much so that other nationalities are also picking up the trend of drinking wu long tea regularly to maintain their weight or as part of a weight loss program.

The following are some claims that consumption of Wu-Long tea can bring fast slimming benefits :-

Oo Long tea can burn 2.5 times more calories than ordinary green tea - In a study published in the Journal of Medical Investigation, scientists from Japan's University of Tokushima School of Medicine found that regular consumption of Oo Long tea can experience over twice the calorie burning results of those who consume the same amount of other weight loss tea.

Oo Long tea can reduce the fattening effects of carbohydrates - Eating too much carbs can encourage weight gain by increasing insulin levels in the bloodstream. A study from scientists at the Suntory Research Center in Osaka, Japan, demonstrated that drinking wu long tea 15 minutes before eating carbohydrates helps blunt the rise in insulin you normally get after eating food rich in carbs.

Oo Long tea anti ageing - Free radicals are damaging substances in your body produced by ultra-violet rays, chemical food additives, stress, pollution and many other factors. Free radicals is linked to many signs of ageing, including wrinkles, dark spots and certain diseases, even cancers. In one 2004 study by Dr. Kenichi Yanagimoto and colleagues from the University of California, Davis, people who drank tea Wu-Long daily experienced a 50 percent reduction in free radicals within 15 days. So Oolong tea is an excellent brew for anti aging.

Oo Long Tea strengthens immunity system - In another 2004 study published in the scientific medical journal, Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, patients who consumed Wu-Long tea were found to have a stronger immune system and a significantly lower risk for common upper respiratory tract infection.

If all these claims are true, then we can all switch to drinking wu long tea regularly to maintain a healthy weight level.