A common question that pops up is whether coffee is any good for weight loss. It’s a complicated question to answer, so we will start with yes and no.
As with anything, weight loss is all about lifestyle. Simply switching to black coffee isn’t going to perform some miracle on your BMI and help you shed all of your weight. That said, it certainly does have some benefits that we will highlight shortly.
It is however important that you are aware that coffee isn’t the go-to drink for weight loss. If anything, if you really want to lose weight, you should ditch everything except for water. That said, a life of drinking nothing but water sounds like an especially boring one, so it doesn’t have to come to that if you don’t want to. It’s all about moderation!
Can coffee cause weight gain?
Fortunately, coffee alone doesn’t cause weight gain. In fact, it can contribute towards weight loss by boosting your metabolism and aiding you in controlling your appetite. However, too much coffee can negatively affect your sleep, which does promote weight gain. It’s swings and roundabouts!
Of course, the way in which you take your coffee matters. If you are a big lover of iced-mocha-latte with a dollop of chocolate ice-cream, then you aren’t going to have much trouble putting the weight on.
On the other hand, if you take your coffee black, without any additives such as sugar, then you will get the benefits without the unnecessary calories on top.
Is black coffee a fat burner?
The fact that black coffee can help to boost your metabolism by about 50% is a pretty good indicator that it can be used as a fat burner. Black coffee also burns the fat in your stomach, as it is a fat burning beverage. That, and black coffee can stimulate the nervous system that signals your body to break down the fat cells and convert them into a source of energy, rather than glycogen.
Of course, it’s not the black coffee itself, but the caffeine inside it which can help you. And whilst there is no definitive science to back it up, caffeine has been shown to aid in weight loss in some cases. For example:
- Appetite suppression: Drinking caffeine can reduce feelings of hunger and your desire to eat for a short while. This is ideal if you are a particularly “snacky” person and like to eat plenty throughout the day. Whenever you get feelings of hunger, you can have a black coffee instead to tide you over until dinner time.
- Calorie burning: Caffeine has shown to increase our energy use, even at times when we are resting. This is because it stimulates thermogenesis, which is one way in which the body generates heat and energy from good that is digesting in the stomach.In other words, it does kinda burn calories!
What if I drink too much coffee?
We urge that you do not pursue coffee as your only means of weight loss. If you do, you are going to end up drinking far too much coffee and then the negatives will start to outweigh the positives.
For example, after too much coffee, you will get the shakes. You may even start to feel dizzy. After one too many, a headache can form, and even an irregular heartbeat. These don’t sound like the sort of symptoms that are positive, right?
In fact, too much coffee consumption can lead to cardiovascular diseases, particularly as you get older. Simply drinking more than 6 cups of coffee a day can put you at a 22% higher risk than those who drink one or two cups of coffee a day.
So, the point is, yes, coffee can have some wonderful benefits, in moderation. You have to be mindful of how much you consume.
But there’s a positive side to that. If you treat coffee as a medicine, then you won’t want to drink it all of the time. That, and you’ll afford yourself the best coffee as well.
You see, rather than drink 6 cups of regular coffee a day, why not drink 1 or 2 quality cups of coffee a day instead. Take Santi Panich Coffee as an example…This calibre of coffee is the type that you will want to savour. It isn’t something that you will want to binge.
After all, binging is what has gotten you into the position that you are in now: wanting to find means of losing weight.
So, do not allow coffee to become just another bad habit. Let it be a well-formed habit that serves you and not the other way round!
Start your day with a coffee
Wake up to a nice cup of coffee. Beyond that, you don’t really need to drink much more. Perhaps another 1 or 2 throughout the day when you get hungry. However, if you find yourself drinking coffee too late in the day, then you are going to have trouble sleeping and that isn’t going to help your situation at all.
With a nice cup of coffee in the morning, you’ll feel a nice buzz of energy that can help you find the motivation to do a little bit of exercise. That’s the thing…coffee on its own is not going to be enough to lose weight. However, coupled with a solid diet and regular exercise will work wonders.
There is no short cut or secret doorway to losing weight. You have to work at it. But with coffee, when used correctly, you can certainly have a much easier time on your journey. That…and coffee tastes great!
