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Black coffee has recently become a fast and effective weight loss ingredient. There’s nothing like waking up to an aromatic cup of coffee. No beverage can energize you the while day as coffee does. It acts as an instant wake-up and energy booster, especially the untainted, black coffee.
Most people like to drink a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Not only does coffee gives you an energy boost, but it is also known for its many wonderful health benefits.
From curing mild headache and depression to stimulating focus and concentration to possible benefits for cancer. However, there is one most talked benefit of black coffee and weight loss. Read Here: How To Drink Black Coffee And Actually Love It
Black coffee and weight loss have steadily and slowly made its word in the health and weight loss industry. But is it true?
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Black Coffee And Weight Loss: Is There A Real Benefit?
1) Can Be A Weight Loss Accelerator
Coffee contains certain elements, acting as an accelerator for weight loss such as chlorogenic acid. This acid is what helps in losing weight.
When consumed, the presence of chlorogenic can slow down the production of glucose in the body. In addition, black coffee also features various antioxidants which makes it ideal for losing weight.
But a lot of the fat-burning effects of black coffee is credited to its high caffeine. The average cup of coffee contains 95mg of caffeine.
A study suggested that caffeine can help stimulate the brown fat, which is the fat that keeps your body warm by burning your calories. Most human studies have shown that caffeine found in black coffee helps in stimulating these brown fat and aid in weight loss.
A systematic review of randomized controlled trials shows that for every doubling of caffeine intake, the fat loss goes up to 28 percent.
2) Curbs Your Appetite
Another way black coffee helps with weight loss is that it keeps hunger pangs at bay and allow you to intermittently fast in the morning. This, in turn, can help with weight loss. How?
First off, it keeps your insulin levels minimized.
Insulin is the storage hormone telling the body to keep hold of energy. When you have high insulin levels, due to frequent snacking and high-carb diets, your body is in the “fat-storage” mode.
However, when you have low levels of insulin, your body released fat in order to be used as energy. Other than minimizing your insulin levels, black coffee can also help lower your daily calorie intake.
By skipping breakfast, you are essentially eating 2 meals instead of 3 a day. And for the majority of people, this less eating means fewer calories in a day, which helps in losing weight.
3) The Energy Factor
Black coffee is known to have an effective stimulant that heightens your body’s metabolic activity (a measure of how many calories the human body burns daily), keeping your in and body energized. This activity, in turn, helps you burn more calories.
However, only large doses of caffeine can make a significant influence on your metabolism. For instance, a study revealed that a 4.5mg caffeine per pound of body weight (10mg per kg) can help increase metabolism by at least 13 percent. This could equate to 680mg of caffeine or a whopping 6 cups of coffee for someone weighing 68 kg or 150 pounds.
Still, some studies show that regular caffeine intake can help improve weight loss and body weight maintenance. In fact, a study shows that increase in caffeine intake was associated with less weight gain for 12 years. And yet, the participants who took the most caffein intake were just a 1 pound lighter than those with lower caffeine consumption.
In addition, shedding calories through real foods and physical activity are the best things you can do in order to lose weight. And black coffee can give you the energy for longer periods in order to do so.
4) Low Calories
When you are trying to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit. In order to this, you need to consume fewer calories or increase your physical activity.
The easiest way to reduce your calorie intake is by opting for low-calorie beverages like black coffee. In fact, a single cup of regularly brewed coffee only has 2 calories.
So, instead of adding the calorie-filled ingredients such as milk, sugar, and creamer, drinking your coffee black can help in lower calorie intake, thus aiding in weight loss.
5) Reduces The Body’s Water Content
Did you ever notice the frequent urge or urinating when you consumed a cup of black coffee? Well, the reason behind that is that black coffee actually has a diuretic effect which increases your urination and reducing water content.
The accumulation of extra water in your body can lead to gaining weight. Some people are fat because of the high water content. With the diuretic effect of black coffee, you can help shed the extra pounds due to high water content. Take note, however, that this is temporary.
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Black Coffee And Weight Loss: When’s The Best Time To Drink?
The short answer: Morning or before lunchtime.
But, if you are sensitive to coffee, then the morning is your best bet.
So, why is it that you need to drink black coffee in the morning?
Caffeine Interfere With Sleep
Although the caffeine found in your black coffee is good for your health, it can actually interfere with your sleep quality.
As the day progresses, adenosine, a chemical is stimulated signaling the brain that you need to rest. However, in order to send this message to the brain, adenosine should bind to adenosine receptors.
Now, to a nerve cell, caffeine looks exactly like adenosine. This means that the caffeine can bind to adenosine receptors as adenosine does. Unfortunately, caffeine does not instruct the brain to calm down.
Meaning, drinking black coffee later in the afternoon, caffeine binds to your adenosine receptors. So, instead of slowing down the nervous system, it speeds it up and making you more alert, causing you to have a hard time sleeping.
Now, a study shows that sleep quality is crucial to weight loss. So, drinking black coffee later in the afternoon is a big no-no.
Caffeine has half-life effectiveness of around 6 hours. This means that it can take up to 6 hours for the amount of caffeine in the body to reduce by 50 percent.
Black Coffee Raises Cortisol Level
Cortisol is known as the stress hormone, fluctuating in the circadian rhythm. It is naturally high in the morning in order to help wake you up and steadily decreases throughout the day so that you are calmer in the evening.
Consuming black coffee in the morning, your cortisol levels will increase when your body expects to be more active, which is pretty normal. However, when you consume black coffee later in the afternoon or in the evening, your cortisol level spikes up when they are supposed to be at the lowest.
And fighting with nature never ends well. This makes losing weight more difficult. For instance, a chronically elevated cortisol level has been shown to increases the stubborn fats in the body. In addition, high cortisol levels also reduce your sleep quality, which as mentioned above, can wreak havoc to your weight loss goals.
Black Coffee And Weight Loss: The Side Effects
We have already discussed the benefits of black coffee for weight loss, however, is all that good? Like anything excessive, too much drinking of black coffee can produce unwanted side effects. These include:
- Higher Stress Levels
As mentioned before, black coffee can spike up your natural stress hormone. And too much black coffee releases high levels of stress hormones in the body which can lead to stress and anxiety. It can be easy to feel like panicking or jittery when you consumed too much caffeine.
- Messes Your Sleeping Routine
Too much coffee can also seriously mess up your sleep. And while we already recommended that you need to avoid drinking black coffee a few hours before your bedtime, chugging several cups of black coffee in the morning won’t help you have a good night’s sleep either.
- Acidity
Black coffee is filled with acid and caffeine. And excessive consumption of black coffee can lead to high acidity in your stomach. This is particularly true if you are prone to acid reflux. Also, you are more likely to have abdominal spasms and cramps.
- Problem With Absorbing Minerals
With too much caffeine in your system, the body will have a hard time absorbing essential minerals from your diets such as zinc, calcium, and iron.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How to make black coffee?
A: Although there’s no correct way of making black coffee, different people make black coffee in different ways.
In general, however, here are 2 ways you can make your black coffee:
- Grinding it on your own
If you wish a clear black coffee with a strong, delicate taste, then grinding your own coffee beans if your best option. Take 3 tablespoons of whole coffee beans and grind them until they’re as fine as sea salt. Then boil about 600g of water. Add a filter to your dripped then filling it with your ground coffee. Pour hot water over the ground coffee and you will have black coffee in no time!
- Use an Automatic Coffee Maker
The no-fuss, easy way of brewing black coffee is to simply use your regular coffee maker. You just need to add your coffee grounds, push some buttons and you’ll have dark coffee in just a few minutes.
Q: How much black coffee should drink every day?
A: A small home-brewed cup of joe could offer up to 50mg of caffeine. Thus, the average 8oz cup of joe can provide at least 100mg caffeine. Now, several sources recommend that up to 400mg caffeine per day or 4 cups of coffee every day is safe more healthy adults.
Q: Does coffee make you fat?
A: Although there are some studies suggesting that coffee is beneficial for weight loss, it can still encourage weight gain. This is particularly true if you are drinking the sweetened coffee and not the black version. Also, by disrupting your sleeping pattern and cortisol levels, too much coffee can actually contribute to weight gain instead of weight loss in the long term.
Q: Can I drink black coffee on an empty stomach?
A: Yes, you can, but it could cause discomfort to your stomach.
The caffeine content of black content can increase the production of stomach acid. At the right level, this stomach acid can help in digesting food. However, when you drink black coffee on an empty stomach, this acid can cause gastrointestinal discomfort.
In fact, even the decaffeinated version of coffee can damage the lining of your stomach if regularly consumed on an empty stomach. This will cause indigestion throughout the day, heartburns, IBS, or irritable bowel syndrome, and stomach ulcers.
Read More:
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Final Thoughts On Black Coffee And Weight Loss
At this point, you now have a good idea of the relationship between black coffee and weight loss. As you can see, black coffee can indeed help with your weight loss goals, thanks to its low-calorie content, the ability to increase metabolic activity, curbing your hunger and so much more.
However, take note that, black coffee can still encourage weight gain by disrupting your sleeping pattern or increasing your cortisol levels. In addition, if you choose to put creamer, milk, or sugar to your black coffee, then it defeats the purpose of having low-calorie content.
So, what do you think? Should you be trying black coffee to lose some weight? Share your thoughts on the comment section below. If you find this article helpful, please don’t forget to share it with your family and friends!
Until then, have a nice day!