Introduction
Coffee is a globally beloved beverage that has conquered countless people with its unique aroma and uplifting effects. It has also gained attention for its potential weight loss benefits. It gradually becoming a hot topic of discussion in weight loss. So, how exactly does coffee work in the weight loss process? Can it really be a powerful assistant in our healthy lives? Let’s discover the truth about coffee and weight loss.
How coffee support weight loss
- Promotes the functioning of the digestive system:
- The caffeine in coffee stimulates our intestines, speeds up intestinal peristalsis, allows the food we digest to flow into the intestines faster, speeds up the breakdown of food, and reduces the buildup of food in our bodies.
- Caffeine is also a diuretic, increasing your urine output and making you urinate more frequently, leading to so-called weight loss and making your body less puffy. This is why many people like to have a cup of coffee in the morning. It doesn’t just wake you up but also makes you feel lighter.
- Accelerate your basal metabolic rate:
- Basal metabolic rate is the minimum energy requirement you need to maintain the basic functions of your body like breathing, heartbeat and body temperature.
- Studies have shown that caffeine can increase basal metabolism by 3% – 11%. Caffeine can accelerate calorie burning by stimulating the central nervous system and boosting adrenaline production.
- Suppress Appetite:
- Our blood level controls our hunger. The higher your blood sugar rises, the more likely you are to feel hungry, and your food cravings become more intense.
- Coffee also contains chlorogenic acid, a polyphenol, which gives it a bitter flavor and the rich aroma that coffee is known for. This bitter flavor works well psychologically to curb your appetite.
- It has also been shown to help stabilize blood sugar levels. Chlorogenic acid slows down the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, lowers the glucose concentration in the blood, and is an antioxidant that helps stabilize blood sugar levels, thus stabilizing our appetite and preventing overeating.
- Improves Workout Performance:
- The caffeine in coffee can keep you energized and awake because it stimulates the nervous system, making the heart beat faster and increasing alertness, thus improving the mental state and endurance of exercisers.
- Caffeine also increases fat oxidation and promotes the breakdown of fat, helping to burn more fat. Studies have shown that drinking 0.9-2.7mg of caffeine per pound of body weight 45-60 minutes prior to exercise can make exercise more effective and maximize fat burning.
Potential Downsides of Coffee for Weight Loss
- Added Calories from Sugar & Cream: When we talk about coffee helping us lose weight better, we refer to sugar-free black coffees. Unsweetened black coffee has almost zero calories, but people tend to add sugar, artificial sweeteners, cream or non-dairy creamers, etc., to coffee because of its bitter taste. This not only takes in more calories but also makes the coffee less effective in weight loss.
- Caffeine Tolerance Over Time: Prolonged intake of coffee will cause you to develop what is known as tolerance to coffee. The euphoric effect will gradually diminish, which indirectly diminishes the effect of coffee on fat loss. You will need to increase your coffee intake to achieve the same effect, which makes you increasingly dependent on coffee. In order to minimize coffee tolerance, you need to reduce or pause your coffee intake on a regular basis. Symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and lack of concentration can come from caffeine withdrawal.
- Heavy coffee intake: Coffee is helpful for weight loss, but that doesn’t mean you can consume coffee without moderation to achieve goals. Studies have shown that the safe caffeine intake for adults should not exceed 400 mg a day. Everyone’s tolerance to coffee varies from person to person. Some people have a stronger reaction to coffee. Everyone needs to consume the right amount of coffee to help them achieve fat loss. Consuming too much coffee instead of achieving the desired effect will lead to increased heart rate, nervousness, gastrointestinal discomfort, and insomnia.
Best Practices for Using Coffee for Weight Loss
Here are the three best times to drink coffee to maximize its effects.
Drinking coffee at breakfast can help you get rid of drowsiness, reduce water retention, and promote metabolism to discharge the food accumulated in the stomach and intestines.
In addition, you can drink it 45-60 minutes before exercise to help burn more calories and accelerate fat burning.
Lastly, it is an hour after lunch, which can accelerate the metabolism, promote the decomposition of fat, and make it not easy to hoard fat.
However, we should note that do not drink coffee on an empty stomach. It will cause damage to the stomach and intestines and trigger stomach pain. It is also important to note that you should not drink coffee 6 hours before bed, which can seriously affect your sleep.
Conclusion
Coffee has limited effect on weight loss. It can only help; you can not completely rely on coffee to achieve the purpose of weight loss. In our daily lives, we also need to cooperate with a healthy diet and proper exercise for weight loss. Utilizing apps like the Difference app to track your daily calorie intake and consumption so that you can manage your weight efficiently!