Have you ever tried losing weight before? If yes, you probably know how difficult it is. As such, anything that could help speed up the process is more than welcome.
One such often overlooked food (rather, beverage for that matter) is coffee, consumed for years for its favorable effects on weight loss over both the short and long term.
Better yet, coffee is cheap, widely available and does not contain numerous other ingredients like expensive designer supplements.
Can coffee do the job for you? Most definitely, as you are about to find out!
Coffee Promotes Fat Burning
There is a difference with fat burning, as opposed to weight loss. Weight loss is a loose term, and refers to weight of any kind that is lost. This can include water, fat and protein, which is not what we want to lose. Fat loss, on the other hand, as the name implies, refers to loss of fat mass directly, and is what most of us are after when we say weight loss.
The good news is coffee is extremely efficient at doing this, thanks in large part to the presence of caffeine. The way this effect is brought on is due to increased expression of the hormone adrenalin, also known as epinephrine, which signals to fat cells to start freeing stored fat within the cells and make them available in blood. It is while in the blood that fat is burned for fuel, so improving the release of fat will undoubtedly speed up fat loss.
Drinking Coffee Increases Metabolism
If there is one thing that can make or break the best weight loss plans, it is your metabolic rate. The poorer your health, in general the slower is your metabolic rate. Luckily, the caffeine found in coffee can increase your metabolic rate even at rest!
Yes, that’s correct, you can burn more calories doing absolutely nothing.
In lean persons, coffee consumption can increase metabolic rate by as much as 29%, while in obese persons it is closer to 10%.regardless, this is great and should be taken whatever it is.
The only caveat about this benefit is the fact that the longer you use coffee/caffeine for weight loss, the less effective it becomes. This phenomenon is known as tolerance, and explains why a break is advised after using caffeine or drinking multiple cups of coffee for several days in a row.
Coffee Stimulates the Senses
As if the direct potential to increase weight loss isn’t enough, coffee also contains a variety of stimulants that work to get the mind prepped and the body ready to increase physical output. Some of these compounds are:
- Caffeine – everyone’s favorite stimulant, caffeine raises alertness, combats sleepiness and makes the body product more adrenaline. The result is increased focus, drive, and productivity.
- Theophylline and Theobromine – also stimulants related to caffeine known as methlyxanthines, these add an extra kick, but also have the ability to ensure energy provided by caffeine is smooth and regular, and not in a big rise and crash fashion.
Coffee Suppresses Appetite
This is likely the most underutilized benefit of coffee, primarily because of wrong timing! In order to get the most potent appetite suppressing effects of coffee, it would ideally need to be taken before you eat.
However, as a society we consume it as a beverage, after the meal. While this may help keep you full for a longer time, it would make sense if weight loss were your goal to have it before the meal, and reduce caloric intake from the inception.
Coffee is the single most versatile, yet underutilized tool in our quest for weight loss. Beware, however, as you need to consume your coffee black to reap the best results – creamer and sugar add useless calories and blunt its true potential.
