Drink Coffee To Lose Weight Fast?
Is this too good to be true? Can you Coffee To Lose Weight Fast? How great would that be to just drink your waist away with a daily cup of wonderful coffee?
In this article, we will dig deep to find out the answer(s) to this coffee weight loss promise.
In this article I will share my research about the effectiveness of one coffee related diet fad. I will delve into the diet benefits of coffee drinking, how to avoid pitfalls, and things to watch out for (good and bad). By the end of this article, you should have a much better understanding of what coffee can do for you.
Key Parts To Any Weight Loss Program
To be able to know if any weight loss program is going to work, these are the important traits a successful program needs:
- Well Defined: Is the program easy to understand and apply
- Calories: The program must take in less calories than your body outputs
- Sustainability: Can the program last past your first roadblock during the weight loss phase
- Maintainability: Once at a desired weight, can the program be modified to become a habit
- Healthy: Any weight loss program shouldn’t put your health at risk
Let’s dive into each of these to see what a Drink Coffee To Lose Weight Fast program entails.
Defining a Drink Coffee Weight Loss Program
During our research we found two potential coffee related weight loss “programs”:
- Coffee Bean Extract
- Drinking Black Coffee in Moderation
These are full fledged programs like you would see with Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig.
However, these diet supplements have been touted by some as helping your body to burn more calories and hence lose weight Fast.
But, what’s the real story?
The Start of the Green Coffee Bean Extract Revolution
With this diet change, the idea is that you add vitamins that contain Green Coffee Bean Extract to your regimen.
In 2012, Dr. Oz ran a segment called Green Coffee Bean Extract: The Answer to Weight Loss? Station WBPF reports on it here:
In the Dr. Oz segment, he claims that by simply adding this ingredient to your diet that his studies found that his subjects lost an average of 1 pound per week. The secret ingredient from the Green Coffee beans is claimed to be Clorogenic Acid.
After his show, sales of coffee bean extract supplements went through the roof.
To good to be true?
We found several products on Amazon where the reviews look amazing. Here is one. But, don’t be fooled. When we ran this product through FakeSpot, the results were very revealing about how they get their high ratings.
Well, this Forbes article finds many flaws in Dr. Oz’s study. Among the most egregious being that the study only includes an extremely small sample size of the members of the study (only 16), and that the study only went for TWO weeks!
Members of the study were asked to keep a diary of what they ate. Could this very simple ask be the explanation for the weight loss?
What’s the real story?
Well, Dr. Oz had a video on his site for this 2012 episode. That video was eventually taken down. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
More Current Green Coffee Bean Extract Weight Loss Research
With the buying craze that Dr. Oz caused, more studies were employed to find out if green coffee bean extract is truly the Holy Grail of weight loss.
The results have been mixed. and so far have not really given Green Coffee Bean Extract the gold medal Dr. Oz had hoped for.
One study published in 2016 studied the combination of Banaba (Moringa oleifera), Green Coffee Bean Extracts and Vitamin D3.
The results of this study did not confirm weight loss in the Active group (the placebo group actually lost more weight). However, the study does make the claim that important body makeup measurements improved. Fat mass (FM) decreased and fat-free mass (FFM) increased.
But, there’s a catch…
The placebo group also showed the same changes. So, the claim the study was able to make was that the efficacy of a “diet” should not be completely measured by weight loss.
I also found a couple of other studies (here and here) that measured fat reduction with Green Coffee Bean Extract.
However, these were studies on mice. And, the mice were artificially fatten up for a period of time before being taken off of the “fattening” regimen and put onto the Green Coffee Bean Extract diet. These studies inspired me to go out and buy more cheese more than Green Coffee Bean Extract.
A Cup of Joe To Lose Weight?
There has been some research that shows the benefits of drinking coffee on a regular basis. But, can you Drink Coffee To Lose Weight Fast?
We researched how coffee can help with your mental health in this article about Coffee and Depression.
But, what about weight loss?
My research found several studies related to caffeine and weight loss. In this study, the recommendation of drinking a blend of green and roasted coffee was concluded to have “positive effects on blood pressure, glucose and triglyceride levels”. Not necessarily a direct relation to weight loss.
I found one study that contradicted the idea that coffee helps with weight loss. In this study, it was found that the hormone leptin (the hormone responsible for sending “I’m Full” messages to your brain) levels were inversely proportional to the amount of consumed coffee.
What About After Dinner Coffee?
Does a cup of coffee after dinner help with my digestion?
In this study titled “The acute effect of coffee on endothelial function and glucose metabolism following a glucose load in healthy human volunteers“, the after dinner coffee held up well as a beverage that may improve endothelial function (or improved circulation).
This doesn’t necessarily mean weight loss. But, does seem to suggest that an after dinner coffee is a good thing for a diabetic.
Can You Drop Calories By Drinking Coffee?
Coffee is a ZERO calorie drink. But, can you Drink Coffee To Lose Weight Fast?
The answer here may lie with how you dress up your cup of coffee.
Are you are pouring in tons of cream and/or sugar? Are you flavoring your cup with some French Vanilla or Hazelnut flavored creamers? If so, then you are obviously not helping your self on the calorie front.
Look:
The bottom line is that to lose weight and lose it fast, you have to make your caloric intake be less than your caloric output.
On the bright side…
If you currently drink a ton of sugary soft drinks. A substitute of coffee (sans the cream and sugar) is a great way of moving the calorie needle down.
Does Coffee Help My Metabolism?
Another way to reduce calories is to increase your metabolism. Can you drink coffee to lose weight fast through a change in your metabolism?
Here’s one related study I found:
In a 2017, a comprehensive metabolomic (see the relationship to metabolism) study was performed. The study was of controlled coffee intake and it’s metabolomic affects.
Conclusions from this study found that there are “strong correlations of coffee-induced changes in plasma levels of metabolites within and between these pathways were observed”.
Healthline says that caffeine affects your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) by 3-11%. And, with more caffeine intake rates can go even higher.
So, all I have to do is keep pounding coffee. Right? Not so fast…
There’s a catch:
Too much caffeine can have a negative affect on you as well. The folks at Inc. put together this caffeine cautionary tale.
No doubt. Too much of just about anything is bad for you.
I can’t emphasize this enough:
Do things in moderation. And, always consult your physician before you make any major changes to your diet. A dramatic increase in caffeine (or anything) can be bad for anyone with certain conditions.
Can You Sustain And Maintain A New Coffee Regimen?
Ok, you’ve decided that coffee is something you want to try.
Is this sustainable?
Is this maintainable?
For me, sustainable answers the question Can I keep doing this without cheating or giving up until I meet my short term goal? Maintaining means Can I make this a lifetime habit using amounts that don’t lose my short term goals?
So, will you be able to drink more until you meet your short term weight goals? And, can you back off your coffee drinking to a lesser level that maintains the weight you were targeting?
There’s no denying it:
The ICO hints that adding coffee to your diet shouldn’t be a problem. They estimate that approximately 600 million cups of coffee are consumed each year.
So, even if you are not a huge coffee lover, history says it won’t take you long to acquire the taste.
Key Takeaway:
Drink enough coffee to make a difference without going crazy (no more than 4-6 cups a day). Use the extra energy you get from the caffeine burst to move around and you will get even more than only the Resting Metabolic Rate caloric burn benefit.
Coffee Drinking For Your Health
If I’m adding coffee to my diet, what health concerns should I worry about?
First of all, always discuss any diet changes with your personal physician. There can be reasons specific to you and your physical health that mean you shouldn’t be adding coffee to your diet.
So:
Here is a list of health benefits from drinking coffee (thanks to Healthline, WebMD, and Caffeine Informer for some of these):
- Helps with workout pain
- Helps to meet recommended daily fiber intake
- Improves energy levels
- Makes you smarter
- Can make you happier
- Less likely to have type 2 diabetes
- Less likely to contract Parkinson’s disease,
- Holds off dementia
These are just a few of the benefits.
On the flip side:
It wouldn’t be fair of me to list all of these great benefits without also listing the down side of coffee. Here are some of the drawbacks of coffee (thanks to Warrior Coffee, Care2, and Health Ambition):
- Can cause insomnia
- Triggers restlessness
- Causes fatigue (after the caffeine high is gone)
- Acidic coffee can result in an upset stomach
- Can have laxative side effects
Many of these drawbacks can be avoided by following common sense practices. For example, if you have a sensitive stomach, drink less acidic coffee. If caffeine keeps you up, stick to drinking your coffee early in the day.
Wrap Up: Drink Coffee To Lose Weight Fast
I hope you enjoyed my research into whether you can drink coffee to lose weight fast.
In this article, I covered one popular diet method of using Green Coffee Bean Extract. I am not a fan of this and I believe the research backs me up that this is more snake oil than break through.
If you already drink coffee and don’t use cream or sugar, then you may already be taking as much advantage as you can on the weight loss front. Just be glad that coffee may be helping you to enjoy those small moments of decadence.
Green coffee beans do seem to have more benefits than roasted. I talk about what to look for in a green coffee bean in this related article.
After my research, I don’t believe you can drink coffee to lose weight fast. However, moderate coffee drinking of 4 or more cups a day can help and also brings other health benefits.
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