Can Coffee Really Help You Lose Weight?

We’ve heard a lot about the beneficial effects of caffeine on our overall health, especially with regards to weight loss. But does it really work. If so, what are its advantages and risks? Let’s dive deeper into this aspect today!

Does coffee really work for weight loss?

Drinking about 3 cups of coffee per day– caffeinated or decaffeinated, devoid of sugar and cream, while restricting your calorie intake is shown to have umpteen benefits with regards to weight loss.  

Depending on the kind if coffee you consume, it contains various stimulants, mainly caffeine. Caffeine not only increases your metabolic rate, but also makes you more alert with better memory retention and concentration abilities. In addition to that, it also improves one’s exercise performance by 11- 12% on average.

By increasing adrenaline, caffeine promotes the release of fatty acids from stored fat tissues. Caffeine increases your resting metabolic rate [RMR] by 3- 11%. In other words, it increases the number of calories your burn while resting for faster weight loss.

People with lower BMI have a higher content of ‘brown fat.’ A single cup of coffee can effectively stimulate this brown fat which burns calories to generate body heat.

Strengths of Coffee for weight loss:

1. Effective when cycled i.e. 2 weeks on coffee followed by 2 weeks off coffee.
2. Coffee doubles up as one of the largest sources of antioxidants in our common diet. Antioxidants are crucial for weight loss and to prevent the onset of early ageing. 

1. Caffeine, the main stimulant in coffee, blocks the inhibitory neurotransmitter called adenosine. This, in turn, increases the rate of release of dopamine and norepinephrine making you feel more awake, alert, and energized.
2. It blocks calorie absorption and decreases your appetite. Suppressing hunger pangs and inducing satiation are the key requirements in dealing with an overweight body.

1. Stimulating ‘brown fat’ improves blood sugar control as well as improving blood lipid levels. It also burns extra calories thereby catalyzing weight loss.

Limitations of Coffee for weight loss:

1. Releasing fatty acids into the blood does not help unless you are burning more calories than you consume through your diet – either by exercising more or consuming fewer calories. 
2. The increase in RMR by drinking coffee is less significant in elderly people. 

1. People tend to grow tolerant to caffeine over time, reducing its effects. Hence, drinking caffeinated beverages may be an ineffective weight-loss strategy in the long run.
2. Coffee can trigger digestive irritation including heartburn and an upset stomach. Not only that, too much caffeine may also increase blood pressure, anxiety, rapid heartbeat, rebound fatigue, dehydration. It can also hinder with your circadian rhythm. 
3. People tend to grow tolerant to caffeine over time, reducing its effects. Hence, drinking caffeinated beverages may be an ineffective weight-loss strategy in the long run.
4. Coffee can trigger digestive irritation including heartburn and an upset stomach. Not only that, too much caffeine may also increase blood pressure, anxiety, rapid heartbeat, rebound fatigue, dehydration. It can also hinder with your circadian rhythm. 

Summing it up:

The biggest drawback of using coffee for weight loss is that your body can get accustomed to it rendering its effects futile. In order to prevent that from happening, make sure you keep switching between coffee and no-coffee days every couple of weeks. 

It is important to back up your coffee consumption with healthy eating habits and an active lifestyle in order to see the best results manifesting themselves in due course of time. 

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