Can Drinking Coffee Help You Lose Weight?

I love a cup of coffee after a full meal. I used to say that drinking a cup of hot java melted the food away. While that may have been wishful thinking on my part, current research is supporting the idea that drinking a cup of hot coffee as soon as you wake up and a half hour before you eat, can reduce your appetite by 35% the entire day.

Scientists state that coffee contains phenols and antioxidants that boost your bodies production of insulin. Insulin is the hormone that keeps our blood sugar in check, so a further advantage of drinking coffee is to fight the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Coffee also boosts our metabolism, which burns fat and increases our energy levels, which in turn, gets us up and moving. Research shows that exercisers who drink a cup of coffee before a workout found themselves able to work out longer and more intensely.

The scientific name for this process is thermogenesis or the production of body heat. Thermogenesis is how our body burns up excess or extra calories that we've consumed. These recent studies show that about six cups of coffee or 600 miligrams of caffeine each day is needed to significantly lower weight and can be quite useful in an overall weight reduction diet plan.

During the day, a cup of coffee can substitute and reduce our cravings for other fattier foods. Just avoid the heavy creams and sugar flavored coffee drinks and stick to plain old coffee. While a cup of plain coffee has zero calories, the same cup made with one T. of cream has 50 calories and 5 grams of fat. If you add one T. of sugar, you add another 50 calories.

And forget about the caffe latte espresso at your local coffee bar. A 16 ounce one made with fat free milk contains 130 calories or made with whole milk contains a whopping 200 calories and 11 grams of fat.

As with all good things, there are negative side effects and for a person considering a coffee weight loss diet, it's a good idea to check out the negatives of coffee consumption.

There are many opposing viewpoints that point out these negatives which include deyhyration due to coffee's diuretic effects, headaches, premature aging of the skins, and even kidney problems. Coffee consumption has been shown to deplete valuable vitamins and minerals, including Vitamin C and B, calcium and iron. Coffee can cause heartburn and even ulcers due to its high acid content.

Can coffee be an effective aid in weight loss? The evidence seems to suggest that it can, but remember, the most effective weight loss plan is one that promotes a healthy balanced diet and regular exercise. And if a cup of coffee in the morning and one before exercising helps ante up the odds, then that's a good thing!

Sources

Coffee/Tea in the UK

I need coffee

Effects of coffee and caffeine