Iaso Tea is a line of products made by a company called Total Life Changes (TLC). The brand sells four different Iaso Tea products, but we'll be reviewing Iaso Tea Original and Iaso Instant Tea as those are the products suggested to be effective for weight loss.
In this article we’ll review every ingredient in Iaso Tea Original and Iaso Instant Tea based on published medical research to provide our determination on whether these products are likely to be effective for weight loss.
We'll also highlight an issue we have with the brand's Fruit Punch Instant Tea product.
Iaso Tea Original Review
This product has a new formulation at the time of updating this article. Iaso Tea Original now contains four ingredients: senna extract, papaya leaves, chamomile leaves and persimmon leaves.
Senna is a laxative ingredient that may cause short-term weight loss due to water loss, however we cannot identify any medical studies suggesting this ingredient is effective for long-term weight loss in humans or animals.
We recommend avoiding senna entirely because a medical review found that this ingredient can cause liver injury when used at high doses for long periods of time. The dose of senna in Iaso Tea is not published.
Papaya leaves is the second-listed ingredient. We cannot locate any medical research suggesting that this ingredient is effective for weight loss, nor does TLC share any on the product page, so we'll consider this ingredient ineffective.
Chamomile leaves are typically used for anti-anxiety effects, but have been studied in relation to weight.
A medical review published in the Experimental and Clinical Sciences journal on chamomile for obesity suggested the compound may be effective, but nearly all of the studies analyzed used chamomile extract (which is a more concentrated version) rather than raw chamomile leaves. In the three animal studies where chamomile tea rather than extract was used, no weight loss effect was noted.
Persimmon leaves are the final ingredient, and while there exists one animal study suggesting that this plant may be effective for weight loss, the rats in the study were consuming 5% of their diet in persimmon leaves. It's highly unlikely that any human will be getting 5% of their calories from the persimmon leaves in Iaso Tea, so we will consider this ingredient underdosed and ineffective for weight loss.
One funny thing about this product is that the previous formulation (shown in part below) contained two ingredients “holy thistle” and “blessed thistle” which refer to the same plant called Cnicus benedictus. The fact that they were listed separately suggests that the manufacturer thought these were two different plants.
Overall we do not believe that Iaso Tea Original is likely to cause weight loss, and we would recommend avoiding this product. We are unable to identify any ingredients we consider appropriate and effectively-dosed for weight loss, and we recommend avoiding senna entirely due to toxicity concerns.
Iaso Instant Tea Review
Iaso Instant Tea has four ingredients: Nutriose FM 06, senna extract, papaya extract, and chamomile extract. This product is a powder formulation that's added to water and doesn't need to be brewed.
Nutriose FM 06 is a patented ingredient derived from corn fiber. A clinical trial published in 2011 found that this ingredient caused body weight loss in overweight men. However, the daily dosage used was 34 grams (g), which we would estimate is vastly higher than the dosage of this ingredient in Iaso Instant Tea.
Since TLC does not publish the dose of this ingredient on their product page, we cannot consider this ingredient effective.
We explained in the previous section why we recommend avoiding senna extract due to potential toxicity concerns.
This product includes papaya extract rather than papaya leaves, which we would consider to be a superior choice for a weight loss product. An animal study found that papaya caused weight loss. While we cannot consider an ingredient effective without human trials proving so, we believe papaya extract is a safe and potentially effective ingredient.
Chamomile extract may be effective for weight loss based on results from animal studies cited in the previous section.
Overall we consider Iaso Instant Tea to have a superior formulation to Iaso Tea Original in regard to efficacy. We consider three ingredients in this product to be potentially effective for weight loss. However, Iaso doesn't publish ingredient doses so we cannot conclude that this product is effective overall for weight loss.
We don't recommend Iaso Instant Tea due to the inclusion of senna extract, which we don't recommend that consumers ingest.
Is Fruit Punch Instant Iaso Tea Missing Ingredient(s)?
TLC describes their Fruit Punch instant tea has having a "spirited, fruity flavor." However, there are no flavoring agents listed in the ingredients section.
The ingredients listed at the time of updating this article are the exact same ingredients as in Iaso Instant Tea.
We're concerned that TLC is failing to publish ingredient information about flavoring agents used in this formulation, which would be a consumer safety issue. Some consumers have allergies or sensitivities to certain ingredients, which is why it's so important for every ingredient to be listed.
We urge TLC to clarify this ingredient issue, and to add any flavoring agents to this product page if there are any missing.
Questionable Health Claims
There is an unfortunate trend in the wellness space where tea brands make arguably unscientific claims related to "detoxification" and "cleansing." The popular brand Herbalife makes similar claims.
In healthy adults, the liver and kidneys manage detoxification as we’ve covered in more detail in previous reviews of detox products, and we haven’t found any medical research suggesting that random blends of herbal tea ingredients optimize this biological process.
The claim shown above is entirely uncited. We recommend that consumers avoid health products making bold claims of efficacy or treatment without medical citation for those claims.
One of the most popular YouTube videos on the questionable health effects of detox tea is published by a channel called "Doctor Mike":
Our Clean Weight Loss Picks
There are food-based nutrients which have been shown in medical studies to be effective for weight loss.
Dietary fiber was shown in a medical review published in The Journal of Nutrition to cause 16 pounds of weight loss in 6 months when combined with moderate caloric restriction (750 calories per day below baseline).
Supergut Fiber Mix is our recommended fiber supplement, because it contains three different types of fiber powder and no questionable additive ingredients. Interested consumers can check out Supergut Fiber Mix at this link to the product page on the brand's official website, where it retails for under $2 per serving at a subscription rate.
MCT oil is quickly absorbed by the body and increases metabolic rate, which causes fat loss. A 2015 meta-study on MCT oil documented more than one pound of weight loss over 10 weeks. This equates to potential annualized weight loss of 6 pounds per year with less than one tablespoon's worth of MCT oil per day.
Bulletproof MCT Oil is our top MCT oil product, because the only ingredient is MCT oil derived from coconuts. There are no questionable additives. Interested consumers can check out Bulletproof MCT Oil at this link to the product page on the brand's official website, where it currently costs only $15.50 for over a month's worth of product.
Coffee is one of the few whole food ingredients associated with weight loss in clinical trials. A meta-analysis published in the Nutrients journal found that coffee intake was associated with reduced body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference.
VitaCup Organic Instant Coffee Sticks is our top coffee product for weight loss, due to its convenience. No preparation or machinery is needed. The sticks can be mixed into hot or cold water (or other beverages) and consumed. The only ingredient is organic instant coffee; no questionable additives.
Interested consumers can check out VitaCup Organic Instant Coffee Sticks at this link to the product page on the brand's official website, where they retail for $1 per serving at a subscription rate.
Iaso Tea Real User Review
One of the most popular YouTube reviews of Iaso Tea comes from a channel called "Tonia Kay" and has achieved over 240,000 views at the time of updating this article.
The review appears unsponsored and the creator shares her experience taking Iaso Tea at the one-week mark:
