Whether you prefer your morning cup of coffee hot, iced, flavored, black or decaf, there’s something for everyone. Whether you need coffee to give your steps an extra boost or you love the ritual of making (or buying) your favorite beverage every day, coffee fans know it’s essential. But if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s not always easy to incorporate coffee into your daily calorie intake, especially if you like sweet and creamy coffee. Many diets make room for coffee (wow!), but you may be wondering: Does coffee help you lose weight or does it make you fat??
TBH, even the scientific community is divided on this one. “Preliminary research suggests there may be a relationship between coffee consumption and weight loss. [but] We do not recommend increasing your coffee or caffeine intake on this basis. We also don’t recommend starting a caffeine habit if you don’t already have it,” says Amy Golin, RD, a Plant Forward registered dietitian in the New York City area.
In most cases, just one cup each morning is fine. But if you have heart conditions or concerns, you should be careful about how much caffeine you drink, as it can increase your blood pressure, explains Monica L Capille, LDN, RD.
Fortunately, there is plenty of information out there to help set the record straight. Here’s the scoop on exactly how and where coffee fits into a healthy lifestyle.
Does drinking coffee help you lose weight?
There is no clear yes or no answer to whether coffee helps you lose weight, has a negative effect on your weight loss, or has any effect at all. There is some research supporting the idea that drinking coffee promotes weight loss, but not enough for it to become a generally agreed upon fact. Also, there is no evidence so far to suggest that coffee can target fat in specific areas of the body, such as the stomach. Recent research says the following:
Studies Show Coffee Helps Weight Loss:
- According to a 2019 study, caffeine can stimulate brown adipose tissue, the fat in your body that burns calories. scientific report. Basically, researchers found that drinking a cup of coffee increases metabolic rate and activates brown adipose tissue, leading to fat burning and weight loss.
- A study published in 2020 by researchers at Harvard University found that people who drank four cups of caffeinated coffee a day lost 4 percent of their body fat. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study’s authors believe this may be because drinking coffee increases your metabolic rate, causing you to burn more calories.
- Caffeinated yerba mate extract was found to reduce the incidence of weight gain and body fat accumulation in a 2020 study in rats. Functional Food Journal. The same results were not seen with decaffeinated extracts, suggesting that at least the caffeine in yerba mate promotes weight loss. But remember, you are not a rat. Findings in humans may be different.
Does drinking coffee make you fat?
Some recent research suggests that it may negative The effects of drinking coffee may or may not cancel out the positive effects. The research results are as follows.
Studies show coffee hinders weight loss:
- Consuming large amounts of caffeinated beverages, such as coffee, can lead to an increase in body mass index (BMI).2021 survey in Food & Function The journal tracked 661 college students and found that those who consumed more caffeinated beverages typically had poorer sleep quality (more on that soon) and a higher body mass index.
- Drinking caffeinated coffee has been reported to increase sugar cravings. That means your morning binge can lead to you choosing the wrong snack later in the day (and losing weight). On the other hand, a 2017 study found that food science journal We showed that drinking caffeinated coffee impairs people’s sense of taste, especially their interpretation of sweetness. This can lead to you consuming more sugary foods and drinks (and thus more calories and carbohydrates).
- A 2013 study found that drinking coffee even six hours before bedtime can cause sleep problems. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. This has a broader impact than just making you feel extra sleepy. Sleep deprivation or sleep deprivation has been repeatedly associated with weight gain.
So what does all this research mean for your health and weight loss? Basically, if you like coffee, feel free to enjoy it in moderation. There is no conclusive evidence to support weight loss or weight gain with coffee. If your coffee habit suits you, give it a try. Don’t set goals on your caffeine intake. No one knows if it’s relevant or not.
How much coffee is okay? “I recommend drinking as much coffee as you like, as long as your caffeine intake is no more than 400 milligrams per day,” Golin says. “So that amount could be zero cups or up to five cups for certain types of coffee. [remembering that] Other sources of caffeine, such as green tea, also count toward your daily intake. ”
When should you drink coffee to lose weight?
Coffee is a great way to start your morning. Drinking late in the day risks disrupting your sleep schedule. “You need about eight hours of sleep a day,” emphasizes Kapil. So make sure you have your last drink before 2pm. That way, the caffeine will be completely eliminated from your system by the time you’re ready to go to sleep. hay.
Kapil says it’s also good to pair coffee with breakfast. When you wake up in the morning, your cells are ready to support your body. But, she explains, they need some kind of food to produce energy.If you skip breakfast, your cells will turn into fat cells. and Uses muscle cells as food.
“You want to lose fat, but you don’t want to lose so much fat that you’re also losing muscle,” Capiel says. There is a simple solution. She drinks coffee with a protein-packed breakfast, whole grains, and healthy fats, she says. We also recommend adding fruits and vegetables.
One exception is intermittent fasting (IF). Kapil says if your IF schedule requires you to skip your typical first meal of the day, it’s still okay to drink coffee. Make sure the first meal you eat contains everything your body needs in a balanced manner.
What can you put in your coffee to lose weight?
The important thing is to be careful about what you put in it. Adding too much cream or sugar to your coffee can counterbalance coffee’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and derail your weight loss goals, Kapil says. Instead, she suggests choosing unsweetened syrup, stevia, or similar sugar substitutes.
As for which type of coffee is best for weight loss, both decaffeinated and regular coffee contain the same nutrients. Every cup is packed with beneficial niacin, potassium, magnesium, and antioxidants, so choose your favorite blend and sip. Also, both black and sweetened coffee are fine as long as you keep additives to a minimum.
What about coffee supplements? Are they healthy?
Don’t like the taste of coffee? You’re not necessarily out of luck when it comes to harnessing coffee’s fat-burning potential, thanks to something called green coffee bean extract.
A supplement available in powder, tablet, capsule, or liquid form, this extract is derived from unroasted coffee beans and contains more chlorogenic acid, its main health benefit, than roasted coffee beans. It is said to maintain high levels of antioxidants normally associated with coffee. Green coffee bean extract is often touted as a so-called natural weight loss supplement, but unfortunately for those looking to lose weight the good old-fashioned way, there is no such thing as a miracle drug. For weight loss!
Golin says there are preliminary studies linking green coffee bean extract to weight loss (like this study), but that more is needed. yay Before responsible nutrition experts start giving these supplements their stamp of approval. And whether or not they actually work, you should still be “very” careful when considering whether to take them. Because it’s made from coffee beans, it contains caffeine and contributes to your daily intake, so it’s easy to overdose if you forget to add all the caffeine.
Also, a common concern about supplements is that they are not regulated by the FDA and do not necessarily have to contain what the label says. Golin says if you want to try any of these supplements, they must be third-party verified tested by organizations like NSF International, and there are no scams or contaminants listed on the Federal Trade Commission’s website. It says you need to make sure it’s not listed. But honestly, until more supporting research is done on weight loss, it’s best to avoid them.
What if I can’t consume caffeine? Is decaf coffee good for health and weight loss?
FYI, decaf coffee also contains a small amount of caffeine, so if you can’t tolerate caffeine at all, you may want to avoid decaf. and Regular coffee. But if you’re simply on a low-caffeine diet, the amount of caffeine in decaf (about 6 milligrams per 8-ounce serving, according to Gorin) probably won’t hurt your weight… It may not have any effect – they conceded a lot of goals.
“There’s been research on caffeine, coffee, and green tea, and they’re all associated with weight loss,” Golin says. ”
Some of coffee’s antioxidant properties, with or without caffeine, may help with weight loss. Drinking decaffeinated coffee also has the same appetite-suppressing effects and may also reduce your overall calorie intake. It’s still unclear what role decaf coffee plays in the coffee and weight loss field, as there aren’t really any studies that have looked at the effects of decaf coffee on weight loss.
Conclusion: plain black coffee May It could be beneficial if you’re trying to lose weight, but it’s unclear at this point. So if you don’t enjoy it, it’s not worth adding to your diet. In any case, limit your caffeine intake to 400 milligrams per day.
Sarah Bradley is a freelance writer from Connecticut, where she lives with her husband and three sons. Her feature articles and personal essays on parenting and women’s health have appeared in the Washington Post’s On Parenting, Real Simple, Women’s Health, The Writer, Today’s Parent, Romper, and elsewhere. In her so-called “free time,” Sarah is an amateur baker, homeschooler, and aspiring novelist.
