Coffee helps you lose weight and burn fat, but only if you drink it like this (according to science)
Coffee is a drink with deep roots in Spain. Thanks to this consumption, our country is one of the largest coffee producers in Europe. Every Spaniard drinks an average of three and a half cups of coffee a day.according to the latest report “Coffee consumption habits in Spain”, carried out by the Café & Té chain. It’s okay to do this contrary to customs and traditions. There are those who drink coffee to wake up with more energy, while others claim that coffee not only enjoys its aroma and taste, but also helps in weight loss. But is this true?
First of all, we must know that coffee, if consumed, should be drunk in moderation. There is scientific evidence that drinking an average of four cups of coffee per day can have serious consequences for vascular health in the brain (especially in people with a history of it) and be a risk factor for serious stroke. Despite this, benefits of coffee taken in moderation, they have supplanted study after study, surprising researchers with the numerous positive aspects this drink can contribute to our health.
Thus, the benefits associated with moderate coffee consumption extend to the cardiovascular system, the brain, and coffee consumption has even been linked to increased life expectancy. Moreover, numerous studies confirm that coffee can help you lose weight or promote weight loss. However, in the area of “coffee for weight loss,” results vary greatly from one study to another. Although some reports claim that it speeds up metabolism and promotes fat burning, other evidence contradicts each other.
In this spirit, a new study conducted by Danish researchers and published in a prestigious journal Nutrientsclaims to have demonstrated How to drink coffee to lose weight and burn fat faster. The study examines the effects of a compound present in coffee, which it finds may help prevent the development of certain diseases associated with poor eating habits and excess weight, a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
What is cafestol? The benefits of this component of coffee
We’re talking about cafestolwhich is a diterpene molecule (that is, it imparts flavor and aroma) present in coffee in an amount of 0.6% in each bean. Despite such a large amount of cafestol in the product, the way it is prepared has a big impact on the final result and the amount of cafestol contained in each cup of coffee.
In this sense, a study conducted by researchers from Denmark analyzed The effect of this component of coffee on healthincluding its ability to lose weight or reduce belly volume. In their latest work, the scientists wanted to evaluate the effect of cafestol on insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in healthy people with a large waist circumference, which is an index of risk for developing diabetes.
To do this, scientists are researching:
- They recruited 40 adult men and women ranging in age from 25 to 78 years.
- As for the men, they all had waist or belly circumference over 40 inches (102 centimeters). Women had a belly or waist greater than 35 inches (88 centimeters).
- Participants were randomly assigned to a diet that included 6-milligram cafestol capsules or a placebo twice daily, for breakfast and dinner. All this within 12 weeks.
And here’s the key: they could get as much filter coffee as they wanted, but because just a cup of unfiltered coffeesince it is in this variant that cafestol is most present. The study volunteers were continuously monitored to evaluate options ranging from weight measurements to monitoring liver tests.
Coffee that helps you lose weight: unfiltered
The first goal or premise of the researchers was to test how cafestol directly and positively affects glucose tolerance or insulin sensitivity, but the results were different. To your surprise, cafestol did not improve either of the two parameters..
What they did find was that Unfiltered coffee containing the diterpene cafestol helps you lose weight reducing body weight by 2%, visceral fat, which dangerously surrounds organs, by 5%, and a liver enzyme called gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) by 15%, which improves liver health.
In fact, while participants who drank unfiltered coffee and therefore a higher dose of cafestol lost 880 grams of weight, those who drank filtered coffee gained 920 grams. Thus, the study believes that caffestol in coffee may change the way fat is processed in the body or an undesirable increase in insulin resistance in adipose tissue.
However, unlike other studies of cafestol, this analysis did not report increased cholesterol levels or increased blood pressure. Hence 6 mg cafestol twice daily This may be a harmless dose of coffee in this regard.
Overall, the study showed conflicting results which shed light on the ideal and healthy amount of coffee and how we should drink it according to our goals as it helped reduce the weight of the participants. But the study also highlighted that Coffee does not affect insulin resistance and that there may even be a probable risk of it increasing, which could lead to type 2 diabetes.
How to Make Unfiltered Coffee to Burn Fat
He cafestol is found mostly in unfiltered coffee.. These types include those prepared using, for example, a French press, Turkish coffee, espresso, brewed coffee or pot coffee. Of course, these methods will be of no use if we accompany them with large amounts of white sugar.
There are other alternatives to sweetening your coffee, but methods like the French press will make your coffee taste perfect. Did you know that at coffee tastings conducted by specialized baristas, a French or plunger press is usually used instead of the usual Italian coffee maker, so that you can savor every detail of the cup?
If you add these methods of preparing a drink to one home-ground coffee bean and without mixing it with sugar, we will get the healthiest coffee for weight loss, according to what science has established so far. Additionally, other studies recommend drinking coffee in the morning, not before going to the gym or after a meal, as it is a vasoconstrictor and interferes with nighttime rest.
This This doesn’t mean we should increase our coffee consumption. to counteract the risk of being overweight. We should also not use it as the only method of weight loss. For this reason, we should notify our regular doctor of any dietary changes.
In addition, it is important to keep in mind that for To lose weight in a healthy way, you need to develop a plan. nutrition and exercise suitable for each person. Of course, it is necessary to take into account past pathologies, especially eating disorders and cardiovascular pathologies. Moreover, if our goal is to lose weight, then the best scientific recipe for achieving this goal is to exercise at least half an hour a day and accompany physical activity with a healthy diet.