There are a number of ways that can help you lose weight. You can choose something aggressive such as weight lifting or even go light as walking and doing yoga. However, there is one surprisingly unconventional method of letting go of the pounds that comes in the form of a beverage: coffee.
No, you didn’t read that wrong incorrectly and it’s not a typo either. Nutritionist Sarah Flowers told Express that drinking coffee not only boosts energy levels and concentration, but also helps us slim down. One of the ways it does this, Sarah explains, is that drinking coffee boosts our metabolism.
When we drink coffee, a phenomenon known as thermogenesis is stimulated in our body, which is what boosts our metabolic rate and burn fat in the process.
Coffee also consists of Chlorogenic acid, which slows down the absorption of carbohydrates and stimulate the hormone Epinephrine that causes body fats to break down.
However, Flowers warns that drinking too much coffee during the day could make us intolerant to its effects overtime. So she advises that it’s better to choose whatever coffee we take and that we should drink only or two cups a day to get all of its benefits.
Gym regulars will be happy to know that drinking coffee can give them an extra advantage. Sarah says that caffeine has been proven to improve gym performance, especially when it comes to endurances sports or high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It’s one of the reasons why caffeine is included in so many diet pills and sports nutrition.
Flowers goes on to say that caffeine functions as a stimulant which provides a boost of energy and burn fat stores. It even stimulates the central nervous system, which send signals directly to the fat cells, telling them to break down.
This happens when blood levels of the hormone epinephrine are increased. Epinephrine is also known as adrenaline, travel through your blood to the fat tissues, which then signals them to break down fat and release them into your blood.
Be advised, however, that releasing fatty acids into your blood does not help you lose weight unless you’re lowering your calorie intake or are exercising, thereby putting you in a condition known as negative energy balance.
Besides caffeine, there are other stimulants that affect metabolism, including:
- Theobromine: It’s the prime stimulant in cocoa, but it’s also found in coffee.
- Theophylline: It’s another stimulant that is found in both cocoa and coffee, and has been proven to treat asthma.
Caffeine is the most important one out of all of them. It works by blocking adenosine, which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. In doing so, the firing of neurons is increased and neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine are released, which in turn makes us energized and awake.
Sarah advises those who wish to boost their metabolism and burn fat, to try Skinny Coffee Club mixes. These contain a mix of ground coffee, green tea extract, green coffee bean extract, Siberian ginseng and Garcinia Cambogia, which work well together to speed up one’s metabolism, burn fat and reduce their appetite.
Siberian ginseng, Sarah says, are regarded as the ultimate adaptogen herb that balance our adrenal glands.
Sarah also recommends Bullet Proof, which is coffee that is blended with coconut oil or butter. She says that this beverage is really popular with the low carb/ketogenic community and athletes who want to enhance their energy and performance as well as reduce their appetite.
Apart from that, Bullet Proof coffee also aids in elevating your cognitive and concentration skills. In order to make your own coffee all you have to do is blend freshly brewed coffee using a blender with coconut or MCT oil and grass-fed butter.
Lastly, coffee can also help lower your appetite, which is ideal for those who have lost control of their diet and need help eating normal amounts of food.
Sarah says that coffee can stimulate thermogenesis (as we said earlier), which decreased our need for food, but only temporarily.
To reiterate, Sarah also said that the chlorogenic acid in coffee reduces the absorption of carbohydrates and suppresses our hunger hormone, Ghrelin. This is the hormone that sits in our stomach and causes it to growl whenever we feel hungry.
Carbohydrates also shut off our leptin response, which is a hormone that tells our brain that we’re full. So by stimulating leptin and suppressing ghrelin, our appetite can effectively be reduced.
One more interesting bit of detail to note is that decaffeinated coffee contains the most important Chlorogenic Acid and can produce a great appetite suppressing effect.
But not all coffees produce such desirable effects. Some, including milky lattes and cappuccinos, consist of sugars and calories, all of which, result in weight gain, eventually increasing our insulin and ghrelin levels.
So if you’re trying to lose weight, be sure to choose black coffee or one with a hint of milk and avoid sweetened coffees as well as those with lots of milk.
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