Are you an avid coffee lover? Or do you love to kick-start your day with a cup of coffee? Coffee lovers adore the idea of drinking coffee and giving their brains a warm liquid hug. Also, did you know that coffee can boost weight loss? Yes, you did read correctly! Coffee can help you to lose weight. This caffeine drink contains powerful nutrients like magnesium, potassium, niacin, and antioxidants that enhance your metabolism.
Coffee lovers will agree that there is nothing better than sipping a good cup of coffee. A steaming cup of cappuccino calms and warms the insides on rainy days. An iced frappuccino simply beats the heat on typically hot days. It cheers you up when you’re feeling lonely or helps to stay awake while studying. The smooth liquid never fails to bring happiness or contentment every time you consume it. There are endless concoctions of coffee; however, knowing which suits weight loss is vital.
Read on to discover more about what you can acquire by sipping on this brewing hot beverage.
The HealthifyMe Note
When consumed in moderation and without too many added sweeteners, coffee can help you lose weight and benefit your overall health. We cannot deny that coffee is a great energy booster. Moreover, research has shown that regularly having a cup of coffee promotes healthy weight management in the long run.
How Does Coffee Help Lose Weight?
According to studies, caffeine intake promotes weight loss. However, it is vital to understand that more than 400 mg of caffeine per day is associated with danger and ill effects on health.
Coffee may impact your weight directly, such as by affecting the metabolism and the quality of sleep. Therefore, here are some potential ways to reveal the connection between coffee and weight loss.
May Suppress Appetite
Drinking coffee will tamp down your appetite and reduce your calorie intake. Even though the effect is temporary, drinking coffee an hour before a meal will make people eat less.
Supports Healthy Metabolism
Several studies link coffee intake with lower body weight, reduced BMI, and fat. That is because the caffeine content in the coffee will effectively increase the rest metabolic rate, resulting in fat loss.
Boosts Your Workout Sessions
Consuming coffee an hour before your workout will keep you in the run for a longer time at a higher intensity rate. In addition, it induces dopamine secretion, making you burn more calories than ever.
Coffee Hacks to Enhance Weight Loss
Making minor adjustments to your coffee routine might considerably affect your weight loss goal in a positive way. Below are some ways to fit the caffeine drink into your weight loss diet.
- Pair with water: Even though coffee is a diuretic, augmenting it with water will keep you fuller throughout the day and prevent the bingeing temptation.
- A pre-workout drink: Sipping coffee before a workout will increase the heat and energy of your body, promoting burning fat and calorie content.
- Avoid milk, cream, and sugar: A cup of plain coffee has only two calories. Adding cream or sugar will increase the calories and lead to weight gain. Hence cut down the cream/sugar and use artificial sweeteners.
- Resist and reduce: Drinking coffee will reduce your appetite. However, drinking it first in the morning will lead you to skip breakfast. As a result, it will make you crave food at irregular timing, hindering your weight loss plan. Therefore, make sure you don’t skip breakfast.
- Try healthy half-caff: Even a little coffee can go a long way, while excess consumption causes insomnia and stress. Try switching to half-caff. That will allow you to drink coffee safely in a day, effectively aiding you in losing weight.
- Space out caffeine time: Stretch your daily intake timing to gain the full weight-loss benefits of coffee. It will give you an extra boost during exercise and suppress your cravings.
Brews to Try for Weight Loss
Besides caffeine, coffee also has hunger-busting nutrients that prevent you from heading for the snack jar. So it’s a win-win situation. Though it’s a good reason not to give up your beloved cup of coffee, adding sugars and cream might be out of the question.
To help you out, here are some low-carb and low-calorie coffee recipes known to promote your weight loss process.
Bulletproof Coffee
Serving: 1
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- Filtered water- 12 oz/354ml
- Freshly grounded coffee- 3 tbsp
- Grass-fed butter- 2 tbsp
- Coconut oil- 1 tbsp
Method
- With coffee and water, brew the coffee in your desired form.
- Pour the hot coffee into a blender and add butter and coconut oil.
- Blend the ingredients for at least 30 seconds until it gets frothy.
- Pour it into a large cup and then serve.
Paleo Iced Coffee Shake
Serving: 1
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
- Cashew milk- 1 cup
- Plain protein powder or paleo vanilla- 2 tbsp
- One shot espresso
- Medjool dates- ½
- Ice- 4-5 cubes
Method
- Add protein powder/ plain vanilla, cashew milk, espresso shot, and data, and blend until it transforms into puree form.
- Blend the puree with ice until you reach the desired consistency.
Pumpkin Spice Latte
Serving: 1
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
- Pumpkin spice shake- 1 packet
- Brewed coffee, cooled down- 8 oz/236 ml
- Fat-free whipped topping (optional)
- Pumpkin pie spice- to taste
Method
- Add Pumpkin spice shake and cooled coffee into the shaker bottle and shake it well.
- Pour the mixture into a large coffee mug and keep it in the microwave until it reaches the desired temperature (about 2 minutes in total)
- Or, you can serve the coffee with ice and serve it cold.
- Top the hot/cold coffee with fat-free whipped topping with a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.
Downsides of Excess Coffee Consumption
Coffee is one of the few drinks that aid in weight loss. However, increased intake of the beverage might be harmful to your health in various ways. It includes:
Making You Feel Edgy
A stimulant drink, coffee, can make you feel edgy rather than calm and controlled when consumed excessively. Excess intake will cause lethargy, irritability, and grumpiness.
Hampering Blood Sugar Levels
Drinking more coffee will stimulate the release of sugar in the blood, resulting in high blood sugar levels. Moreover, it also kicks in your sugar cravings, making you sneak out to the snack cupboard and cheat on your diet plan.
The HealthifyMe Note
Coffee can increase fat oxidation, aiding in weight loss combined with diet and exercise. However, ingesting too much coffee daily can negatively affect your brain and overall health. According to the Food and Drug Administration, people should not consume more than 400 mg of caffeine daily.
Conclusion
Most people want to drop a few pounds as soon as possible. Even though coffee is advisable as a dietary aid for weight loss, the role of caffeine is still heavily debated. Coffee might help you lose some weight and prevent weight gain. However, it cannot keep it off permanently.
Like any other food, being smart with your coffee portions is the key to achieving your weight loss goals. Nevertheless, the best advice for those looking to lose weight healthily is to put in time and effort to eat well and exercise right. Drinking coffee sensibly with an increased exercise regimen and a healthy, low-calorie diet is the secret to achieving a long-term weight loss goal.