How coffee can help you lose weight

It is believed that the use of natural coffee contributes to the process of losing weight by accelerating metabolism and decreasing appetite. Is it so?

Is it possible to lose up to 5 kg of excess weight in just a month, if you drink this invigorating drink correctly? Or do manufacturers attribute non-existent beneficial properties to coffee beans based on market needs (beauty is always in vogue)? Let’s try to figure it out!

 

Coffee is a low-calorie drink

100 ml of natural instant coffee without any additives contains only 2 kcal.

But as soon as we add a teaspoon of sugar to the drink, its calorie content increases from 16 to 24 kcal.

Do you like coffee with sugar and cream? Then add another 20 – 60 kcal to the calorie piggy bank (depending on the fat content of the cream).

Have you decided to indulge yourself with a coffee and ice cream at the end of a hard week of work? 50 g of ice cream will increase the calorie content of coffee by another 113 kcal.

As a result, a cup of this invigorating drink no longer contains 2 kcal, but about 46 – 120 kcal.

Therefore, the low-calorie content of black natural coffee is a relative and purely individual concept, depending on your preferences and habits.

 

Coffee speeds up metabolism

This is a rather controversial statement, which has not yet found scientific confirmation. It is mainly based on the fact that coffee contains chlorogenic acid, which speeds up metabolism and promotes the breakdown and burning of subcutaneous fat.

However, there are several “BUT” that we cannot keep silent about if we want to be objective:

Indeed, coffee beans are the leader in chlorogenic acid content, but only when it comes to green beans. During the roasting process, the chlorogenic acid is destroyed, as a result of which its content in black coffee beans is reduced by about 65%.

Research on the slimming benefits of chlorogenic acid has been carried out by companies specializing in the production of green coffee and preparations that contain this very acid. Therefore, you cannot trust their results 100%. Moreover, excessive consumption of chlorogenic acid leads to metabolic disorders and weight gain.

Much more plausible is the version according to which a cup of coffee, drunk half an hour before training, activates metabolism due to stimulation of the central nervous system. As a result, endurance increases, mood improves, you feel a surge of strength and energy, which in general increases the productivity of your workout.

But you should not expect miracles from coffee, especially if, instead of visiting the gym, you are lying on the couch with a cup of coffee, a sandwich, and waiting for the extra pounds to begin to melt before your eyes.

 

Coffee suppresses appetite

 

A cup of coffee, especially with added sugar or cream, dulls hunger for a while. This is verified by each of us on our own experience without any scientific research. But how long does this effect last? How safe is this approach to losing weight?

Scientists from Guangzhou University in the course of research have found the following: when the mice were injected with caffeine, their appetite decreased, as a result of which they gradually lost weight.

However, in another three-week study, conducted in 2018 with 50 volunteers, scientists came to the following conclusions:

The role of coffee in reducing appetite is too exaggerated (coffee does reduce appetite, but for a short time).

The first group of subjects, who received a low dose of caffeine (120 ml of coffee), ate 10% less food at breakfast compared to the other two groups (the second group received caffeine as a placebo, and the third was asked to drink 240 ml of coffee).

After drinking coffee, the first group consumed about 650 kcal, the second – 721 kcal, and the third – 715 kcal.

The results of the study were published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

And one more thing: an excessive love of coffee can lead to weight gain. This conclusion was reached by scientists led by Robin Dund of Cornell University, the results of the study were published in the journal Food Science.

Drinking natural black coffee alters the taste perception over time, making foods and drinks appear less sweet. This can lead to the fact that one spoonful of sugar will not be enough for you to sweeten tea or coffee, and you prefer sweeter milk chocolate too bitter dark chocolate.

 

Coffee removes excess fluid from the body

Coffee has a diuretic effect, and the more you drink it, the sooner you feel the need to empty your bladder.

Much depends on the physiological characteristics: someone from one cup of espresso will feel the urge to urinate within 20 minutes after drinking it, and someone will feel absolutely great after a large cup of latte.

But not only the amount of coffee consumed affects the severity of the diuretic effect, but also the frequency: in avid coffee lovers, the diuretic effect of coffee is pronounced much weaker than those who indulge themselves with this drink from time to time.

Today, on the Internet, you can find a lot of interpretations of coffee diets, adhering to which you can lose up to 7 kg per week (those who adhered to them say this).

Nutritionists do not recommend practicing this kind of weight loss (under the special prohibition of strict coffee diets): yes, you will quickly lose weight due to the diuretic effect of coffee and excretion of fluid, but the body will very quickly replenish its losses, and in a double volume, remembering that water consumption, to which you forced him to.

If you drink liters of coffee, and to increase the effect, reduce the consumption of ordinary water, you run the risk of bringing yourself to dehydration.

 

How to drink coffee for weight loss?

 

Rule # 1. Forget about instant coffee

Coffee ideal for weight loss is natural, brewed with love in a Turk. Yes, you will have to devote not 30 seconds to the coffee-making process, but 5-10 minutes, but the result is worth it: you will enjoy a fragrant and healthy drink.

 

Rule # 2. Forget about additives

You will have to forget about sugar, cream, ice cream, and syrups if you decide to lose weight.

If, nevertheless, you cannot drink coffee without additives, use a sweetener instead of sugar, and replace the cream with skim milk.

 

Rule # 3. Observe the measure

Three servings of coffee a day (which is about 20 – 28 g of pure coffee) is enough to keep the body in good shape and not harm health.

Exceeding this norm is fraught with disturbances in the work of the cardiovascular system, surges in blood pressure, arrhythmia, anxiety, and anxiety.

 

Rule # 4. Don’t drink coffee on an empty stomach

If you are used to starting your morning with a cup of coffee, be prepared for the fact that in a month you will begin to feel discomfort in the stomach, heartburn and flatulence will begin to torment you. If you are not embarrassed by such a reaction of the body, then soon you may face more serious problems, for example, with gastritis and stomach ulcers.

But after breakfast you can quite afford a cup of coffee.

 

Rule # 5. Don’t drink coffee before bed.

Doctors recommend drinking your last cup of coffee no later than 4 pm. Otherwise, despite physiological fatigue, you will have difficulty falling asleep.

And insomnia, as you know, often provokes night snacks, which are of no use to those who seek to lose weight.

If you belong to the category of people who can drink a cup of strong coffee before going to bed and fall asleep without problems, you should also give up this habit. Caffeine stimulates the nervous system, so your brain is not fully rested while you sleep.

 

Rule # 6. Drink more water

Don’t forget about the diuretic effect of coffee. To replenish fluid, drink at least 1.5 – 2 liters of water per day.

 

Rule # 7. Remember contraindications

Coffee is contraindicated for people with hypertension, women during pregnancy and lactation, patients with cardiovascular diseases, dysfunction of the stomach, insomnia, increased nervous irritability.

If after drinking coffee instead of a surge of energy you feel irritability, nervousness, if your pulse quickens and tremors of your hands appear, your head starts to hurt and dizzy, refuse this drink.

 

Rule # 8. Do not hope for a miracle

Coffee can be an aid in the process of losing weight, but it is not a panacea that should be pinned all hopes.

Today, green coffee for weight loss is popular, the manufacturers of which promise that even in the absence of physical activity, you will rapidly lose kilograms by suppressing appetite, accelerating metabolism and increased burning of calories and subcutaneous fat.

Practice shows that as an independent product for weight loss, such coffee does not have a pronounced effect.

Only in combination with proper nutrition and regular exercise can coffee accelerate the process of losing weight, give strength and simply improve your mood!

 

Source: Orlando Coffee Roasters