Coffee as a Weight Loss Technique
I started looking at coffee to help me with weight loss because I am one of those people that are very health conscious. I am always looking for ways to eat healthier and to lose weight and stay in shape. That is why I have been doing lots of research and study on the subject of losing weight through drinking coffee.
Can coffee help with weight loss? Caffeine helps to improve your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which motivates your body to process nutrients more efficiently and helps you to lose weight. When your BMR is higher you can eat more food without gaining weight. Coffee also helps you lose weight because it is rich in chlorogenic acid and antioxidants.
When used correctly, coffee is really great as a weight-loss supplement and can also give you a much-needed energy buzz. With all of the health benefits associated with coffee, your life can really improve for the better. However, drinking too much coffee in a day can stifle the positive effects as your body builds an immunity to the weight loss benefits.
How Can Coffee Help Me Lose Weight?
When I discovered that coffee can help me to lose weight, I became inquisitive and decided to do some investigation for myself. To understand the process, you first have to know how your body stores fat. Your body actually has two kinds of fat, known as brown fat and white fat, and they serve two essential functions.
So how does your body store fat, and what does caffeine do to help you lose weight? Your body is made up of trillions of cells which act as the building blocks for all life forms. Think of your body as a vast building, and cells are the thousands of bricks which the building is made from.
The smaller a lifeform is, the fewer cells are needed for its construction. Some life forms like bacteria are only made from a single cell, while other life forms like humans consist of many thousands of cells. One thing that all cells have in common is that they require a sugar called glucose to burn energy.
There are actually many different kinds of sugars. They come in a variety of forms. Fructose is a sugar that is commonly found in fruit. Lactose is a sugar that is often found in milk and dairy products. Sucrose is usually found in the form of table sugar or hard candy. However, because your cells can only convert glucose to energy, It is the most important of all sugars.
When there is little energy being burned and an oversupply of glucose, your body converts the excess energy and stores it in fat cells for later use. This is where your belly fat comes from. Most of your energy reserves are stored in white fat.
Your body actually needs white fat to regulate hormones and help with other essential functions. However, having too much white fat can be very unhealthy and may increase your risk of getting ill from a variety of diseases. This is why many people today are looking for healthy ways to lose weight.
Brown fat, which is rich in mitochondria helps to burn energy and calories. When you spend time in a cold environment, your brown fat activates and starts burning energy to keep you warm. This is why it is easier for people who have more brown fat to lose weight.
The good news is that coffee increases your brown fat, which will help you to lose weight. Caffeine stimulates the same signals in your brain that tell your body to activate the brown fat when you are feeling cold. A scientific journal shows the results of a research study which claims that drinking coffee induces the activation of brown fat in your body Trusted Source.
When you do physical exercise, your body burns energy, and to maintain a constant energy supply means that you need a regular supply of glucose that can be converted to power for your cells. However, having too much glucose is very bad and by lowering or slowing down the production of glucose in your blood, you make life easier on your pancreas. Coffee also helps to regulate and lower glucose levels in your blood, which makes it very beneficial for people who have diabetes
Coffee is also a great antioxidant, and this because is rich in chlorogenic acid which is a polyphenol compound. Chlorogenic also acid plays a vital role when it comes to burning fat through drinking weight loss coffee. Aside from helping you to lose weight and detoxing your body chlorogenic acid also has many other great health benefits.
What are the other health benefits associated with drinking coffee?
High blood pressure can be hazardous, and if left unchecked can damage your veins and arteries, increase your risk of heart attack or stroke, and even lead to problems with your memory. Studies suggest that chlorogenic acid can regulate and lower blood pressure levels. When green coffee bean extract was ingested by twenty individuals with high blood pressure over four months, their blood pressure levels decreased Trusted Source2.
Coffee also gives us an energy buzz and helps us to stay productive and focused, which is an essential factor for success. However, the mood-lifting qualities of coffee should not only be attributed to its caffeine content. Chlorogenic acid has been found to play a significant role in helping to alleviate and boost your mood.
Have you ever heard about the myth that coffee is bad for your teeth? This is actually quite far from the truth as chlorogenic acid helps to prevent tooth decay. This is because chlorogenic acid is antimicrobial and kills a bacteria known as Streptococcus mutans. So, coffee is actually very beneficial for your dental health.
One thing that very few people are aware of is that because coffee is rich in chlorogenic acid, it can inhibit the growth of cancer. Coffee can dramatically reduce your risk of getting breast cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer and pancreatic cancer. One research study shows that chlorogenic acid reduces the channels associated with tumor advancement, which lowers the growth of cancer cells in humans.
How can I get the best out of coffee as a weight loss supplement?
Be sensible about your coffee intake.
Consuming coffee in the proper amounts can really have some amazing weight loss benefits in the long term. Coffee helps you to burn calories and can also suppress your appetite. However, drinking too much coffee every day can cause your body to build a tolerance against the positive weight loss effects. An overconsumption of coffee can also heighten anxiety, stress levels, create caffeine dependency, and deteriorate your health.
That is why it is essential to regulate your daily caffeine dose responsibly so that you can reap the maximum weight loss benefits and feel revitalized. Your best options for losing weight is regular black coffee or green coffee bean extract with no additives. Other beverages that contain caffeine like soda or energy drinks contain high sugar content and other ingredients that can impair your weight loss.
The ideal amount of coffee that you should consume daily should be a maximum of two cups. Ideally, you should drink coffee in the evenings before or during dinner, instead of first thing in the morning. When you drink coffee early in the morning, it interferes with your natural cortisol production cycles, which can lead to dependency.
If you struggle to limit yourself to two cups of coffee every day, you can try an alternative called half-caff. This means that you mix your coffee blend to contain one half of decaffeinated coffee and the other half of regular coffee beans. By doing this, you will be able to moderate your caffeine levels and still reap the benefits of losing weight.
Manage Your Hunger Levels With Coffee
Coffee is known to suppress your appetite and food cravings, which can make you feel less hungry and this makes it valuable for weight loss. When you feel the need to overeat or get a second helping of food, you can opt to go with a nice dose of caffeine instead. You can also substitute an unhealthy snack with a cup of coffee to carry you through to your next meal.
Another strategy for managing weight loss is to increase your coffee by having a glass of water with your coffee. By drinking an extra glass of water you will stay hydrated and also feel full and satisfied for longer. This will dramatically reduce your craving to grab an unhealthy snack or to eat in between meals.
Coffee also gives you an energy buzz that is great for when you are going to work out in the gym. You can also lose weight because coffee initiates thermogenesis, which will burn calories. By combining exercise and coffee you are increasing your body’s potential to lose weight.
How To Get Even More Benefits from Your Coffee
Read The Nutritional Information
I love going to the local convenience store or supermarket and buying my favorite brand of black coffee. When I walk through the aisles it is very lovely to be surrounded by so much variety to choose from. There are many different brands and flavors of coffee on the store shelves and they come in a variety of attractive packages which are all different.
You can only lose weight by drinking the right kind of coffee. Today we have a lot of options and specialty products to choose from when buying a coffee. Although these specialty products may contain attractive mixtures of flavors and infusions they usually also tend to have more calories than your normal black instant coffee. Therefore it may be wise to read the nutritional information and make sure that it doesn’t contain any extra sugar of fattening substances that can cause you to pick up some extra pounds.
Avoid Adding Cream And Sugar for Maximum Weight Loss Results
If you want to harness the maximum weight loss potential from your coffee, you need to drink it plain and black. A cup of normal black coffee contains about two calories per serving and is ideal for suppressing appetite and making you feel full. Adding sucrose or cream can greatly increase the content of calories per serving and this will inhibit your weight loss potential.
Everyone loves some whipped cream with their coffee, it makes your coffee so much creamier and smoother. However, did you know that adding a dose of whipped cream to your coffee can bring up to 52 additional calories to the serving? Just one spoon of sucrose or table sugar contains up to 49 calories, so if you have sugar and whipped cream you just went from two to a hundred calories per serving!
Some people like to add butter to their coffee, but we recommend that you avoid doing this. Containing over 120 calories, a tablespoon of butter is the last thing that you need added to your coffee if you are trying to lose weight. If the taste of plain black coffee is too powerful for you, try opting for some iced coffee instead.
When it comes to choosing a coffee there is one specialty beverage that is amazing for weight loss. Plain green coffee bean extract is known to increase your weight loss potential up to three times more than plain black instant coffee. Green coffee bean extract consists of regular coffee beans that were harvested when they were green and haven’t been roasted.
Combine your coffee routine with a balanced diet
Unfortunately, drinking weight-loss coffee on its own isn’t enough to help you reach your target weight. You can drink as much weight loss coffee as you want, but if you indulge in junk food, candy, and an unbalanced diet, you are not going to make much progress. If you’re going to see amazing weight loss results then you have to combine your coffee routine with a healthy and balanced diet.
A great way to eat healthier is by eating whole grain foods instead of processed food, junk food, or meals that are packed with high sugar content. Another strategy that you may consider is writing a meal plan and sticking with it. When you eat a healthier balanced diet, you will avoid undermining the results of the weight loss coffee.
Live an active lifestyle
Because coffee contains a combination of caffeine and antioxidants like chlorogenic acid, it can make us feel amped up and give us the energy we need to perform while going to the gym and working out. The great thing about this is that by complimenting your workout routine with coffee and living an active lifestyle, you are guaranteed weight loss success.
There is a variety of activities that you can do to stay in shape, and this includes running, spinning, lifting weights, swimming, or doing CrossFit. Drinking coffee before you do some form of intense exercise will give you a significant energy boost and can relieve pre-workout pain and tension in your muscles. Coffee can also help reduce sore muscles after an intense training session at the gym.
Related Questions
What is a good substitute for whipped cream in my coffee?
Many people like some skimmed milk or whipped cream in their coffee because it adds flavor and makes the coffee taste creamier. If you really can’t stand the taste of plain black coffee you may want to opt for some unsweetened almond milk as a substitute. If you don’t like the unsweetened almond milk, adding some cinnamon can also be a great alternative as it helps to suppress appetite.
Will too much coffee dehydrate me?
Scientists have shown that dehydration through coffee is really nothing more than a made-up story. However, drinking too much coffee can increase your stress and anxiety levels and is not very beneficial for your overall health and wellbeing. The recommended daily intake of caffeine is around two cups a day served in the evenings before or during dinner.
Which Coffee is the best for weight loss?
In general, most forms of black coffee don’t contain many calories. However, green coffee bean extract has been shown to have a higher level of antioxidants and chlorogenic acid and can help you lose up to three times as much weight. In general, you should try to avoid specialty coffee products that contain cream or sweeteners that can add to the caloric content of a single serving.
There are many great brands of coffee to choose from, but it is up to you to decide which best suits your needs as a consumer. If you don’t like unroasted coffee beans you will probably opt for plain black coffee instead of green coffee bean extract. However, if you are only drinking coffee for the weight loss benefits, then you will be more attracted to green coffee bean extract as a supplement.