Coffee has become one of the most popular drinks in the world. It is estimated that over 2 billion cups are consumed daily. Drinking coffee has been shown to have several health benefits, including lowering your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Some studies suggest that coffee may help you lose weight. However, others report no impact on weight at all, and some even suggest it may promote weight gain. It is important to note that much of the research looking at coffee and weight loss is observational — meaning researchers have relied on people's self-reported habits or asked people questions about their diet and lifestyle habits. Such studies cannot prove cause and effect and should be interpreted with caution.
This article takes a look at the research behind whether drinking coffee can help you lose weight.
The Relationship Between Coffee and Your Weight
Coffee is a staple in many people's lives. It is a popular beverage that can be enjoyed at any time of day, so it's not surprising that many people are drawn to it. But how does coffee affect weight loss? Does drinking coffee make you gain weight? Or does it actually help you lose weight?
The answer is… both!
There's been a lot of research giving evidence that drinking coffee can promote weight loss. There's also been low-quality observational evidence that suggests that drinking coffee may increase weight gain.
It's important to recognize that the observational evidence on coffee and weight gain is not conclusive. The studies have limitations, and they're not consistent in their results. These types of prospective studies don't show causation—they can only suggest it. They are observational, not experimental. They don't try to control for other factors that might influence your weight gain (for example, smoking or diet), so there could be other differences between groups that explain why some people gained more weight than others over time (something called “confounding”).
However, the results from epidemiological studies are inconsistent, with some suggesting that coffee intake is positively associated with weight and others reporting no association at all. This may be because many other factors influence body weight apart from coffee drinking habits. Also, there are different types of coffee and many ways in which it can be prepared (e.g., filtered or instant). It is important to consider these factors when looking at studies relating coffee consumption to weight.
The truth is that coffee won't help you lose weight directly. However, there are some ways it can indirectly affect your weight loss goals.
How Coffee Causes Weight Loss
Coffee works in various ways to help lead to weight loss;
Increases Body Metabolism
First of all, coffee contains antioxidants called polyphenols which have been shown to increase metabolism and help with the absorption of other nutrients in food.
In simple terms, metabolism is the process by which the body converts food and drink into energy. Fat cells are the body's energy storage units that hold onto excess calories until they're needed for the daily activity or during times of famine (which we hope never happens!). When these fat cells are broken down, they release fatty acids into your bloodstream where they're carried to muscle tissues with instructions to burn them as fuel instead of storing them as fat. This increased rate of metabolism can help you lose weight over time!
So if you're drinking coffee when eating breakfast or lunch, those foods will be more easily digested and absorbable by your body.
Increases Adrenaline Production
Coffee also causes an increase in adrenaline production—that's why some people feel more alert after drinking it! This also means that caffeine can help burn fat faster because adrenaline helps your body use stored energy (aka fat) for fuel instead of carbs from food or glucose from sugar drinks like soda pop or juice boxes (which is why they're full of sugar). One reason for this may be that coffee can reduce calorie intake and increase resting energy expenditure (REE).
Another way that coffee can help you burn fat is by improving your energy levels, which allows you to exercise more frequently. When it comes to weight loss, consistency is key: if you feel too tired from lack of sleep or other factors, then it's easy for motivation to drop and for life's busyness to get in the way of staying active and fit. A cup of joe could help here; studies show that caffeine increases focus and concentration while reducing fatigue (which makes us want a nap).
Caffeine is classified as a stimulant because it promotes temporary increases in energy, alertness, and heart rate. In addition to being a diuretic (a substance that causes increased urination), caffeine constricts blood vessels (making you feel warm) and causes bronchodilation (expansion of airways).
Stimulants, such as cocaine or amphetamines produce their effects by increasing the activity of neurotransmitters in your brain. The effect of these drugs can last up to an hour or more depending on how much of them you take in at once; however, after this period passes there will be no additional benefits from taking more doses until some time has passed again so that your body clears itself out of any excess chemicals which could otherwise become toxic if consumed regularly over extended periods at high doses without breaks between usage cycles."
Breaks Down Fat Cells
Coffee also appears to have unique effects on your body that promote the breakdown of fat cells into free fatty acids (FFAs), which in turn increases metabolism. The result is higher levels of FFAs circulating in your blood, which means more calories burned. Caffeine's effect on fat metabolism is not limited to these findings; it may also increase fat breakdown (lipolysis) and oxidation (fat burning).
Reduces Appetite
A study showed that when people drank caffeinated coffee before meals, they ate less food during the meal than those who didn't drink coffee beforehand. This suggests that caffeine may help with weight loss by reducing calorie intake throughout the day. Although it's unclear if the same effect would occur for other people. It's also possible that you'll simply feel full from drinking coffee at mealtime, which could make it easier for you to eat less food overall during the day.
Although the studies on caffeine and weight have not shown a consistent link between caffeine intake and less weight gain, they do suggest that caffeine may have other benefits for weight control, particularly during dieting.
Coffee and Weight Gain
As earlier stated, the relationship between coffee and weight is complex and requires further study.
In one study, people who increased their caffeine intake over 12 years gained more weight compared with those who decreased or did not change their intake.
The researchers also found that among women, increasing caffeine intake was associated with an average gain of 5 pounds. Another study came up with similar findings: Women who consumed at least 500 mg of caffeine per day (about 4 cups of coffee) gained an average of 3 pounds more than non-caffeine users over 9 years.
However, it is important to note that these studies were observational, and it is still unclear if it was the coffee that cause the weight gain or the additional ingredients like sugar, etc.
So to be on the safer side, when taking your coffee, make sure it is high-quality. That means avoiding sugar and creamers, and if you want to add something sweet, try a splash of almond milk instead of sugar or artificial sweeteners!
General Observations
While coffee may be one of the best things to happen to your psyche and waistline, it's important to keep in mind that drinking it alone won't do the trick. Your exercise habits and diet also play major roles in weight loss. To see results from drinking coffee, you'll need to combine it with healthy eating and regular exercise.
Other factors such as diet quality and exercise habits must also be considered when assessing whether coffee can help with weight management.
Although coffee consumption may protect against weight gain, it's still unclear why this effect occurs. Some researchers believe that the antioxidant properties of coffee (called polyphenols) may reduce oxidative stress in the body, which would increase the rate at which fat cells burn energy for fuel. However, another theory suggests that caffeine triggers thermogenesis—a process by which stored fat cells are broken down for energy production and heat generation. This can lead to increased metabolic rate and increased calorie burning after consuming caffeine-containing foods or beverages. A third theory posits that drinking caffeinated beverages helps suppress appetite because they contain water: without enough liquid in your stomach, you'll likely eat less food at meals or snacks throughout the day than if you had drunk a caffeinated beverage such as coffee with your meal instead of just water or milk.
Coffee does have some drawbacks when it comes to weight management: if you're sensitive or allergic to caffeine or other compounds in coffee beans such as trigonelline and cafestol palmitate (found in unfiltered and boiled brews), then drinking too much-caffeinated coffee will damage your sleep quality — which leads us back around again!
Conclusion
There is some evidence that black coffee may increase metabolism, reduce fat breakdown, and boost calorie burning, which may help with weight management. Epidemiological studies have drawn inconsistent conclusions, with some suggesting that coffee consumption promotes weight gain and others reporting no association at all. Current research seems to favor the idea that coffee can promote weight loss when consumed without sugar or cream. However, more research needs to be done before any conclusive claims can be made about this relationship.
But in the meantime, coffee has been shown to boost metabolism, and it contains beneficial nutrients and bioactive compounds that may help reduce inflammation and improve health in many ways.
