Worried about impressing the family at holiday get-togethers because you’ve put on a bit of weight? With Christmas on the horizon, are you scratching your head over how to shed those stubborn extra inches? Imagine finding your dream holiday outfit, but when you slip it on, belly fat dims your shine. Looking slick is always a win, but feeling vibrant and fit tops it all. Extra weight doesn’t only spoil our selfies; it can also put a damper on our well-being.
Of course, choosing a healthy diet plan and planning your weekly trips to the gym is the most reasonable and effective way to lose weight and improve your health, but nobody said nothing about not being able to use a few tricks hidden in your sleeve. One trick that we chose to discuss today we know that many of you will like it.
To reveal some details…it has to do something or everything in fact with our favorite drink – coffee! In the following article, we will discuss the use of caffeine in the process of weight loss and reveal whether or not this powerful compound can enhance your experience. Let’s start, shall we?
According to scientific research published in the Food and Chemical Toxicology, more than 85% of the U.S population consumes at least one caffeinated beverage on a daily basis. (1) It has been established that among the U.S population, the most favorite caffeinated beverage is coffee.
Oh yes, the sweet temptation that is coffee. A cup full of energy in the morning, a cup full of happiness at noon, a cup full of small talk and laughter shared with friends in the afternoon – it is simply perfect for every occasion. And as we will discuss in a little while, it is perfect for weight loss as well. But first, what is caffeine?
Caffeine is a known central nervous system stimulant. It is also a mild psychotropic due to its mood-altering attribute and a mild diuretic. What caffeine actually does is blocking a known inhibitory neurotransmitter called adenosine. By doing so, it increases the production and release of other neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine which causes you to feel awake and energized as you finish your cup of coffee or any other caffeinated drink of your choice. (2)
Caffeine is declared as safe for consummation, and according to the FDA, 400 milligrams of caffeine or 4-5 cups of coffee on a daily level is considered to be a safe dose of caffeine. Caffeine is known to pose numerous health benefits including a reduced risk of cancer, stroke, heart disease, and diabetes. (3)
However, there are some side-effects to be expected in the case of an overdose. These side-effects include anxiety, nervousness, dizziness, headaches, uneven heart rate, sleep problems, and many others. We recommend to all of our readers and caffeine addicts to watch out for your daily dose of caffeine intake and keep it within the ranges of what is considered to be a safe dose of caffeine that we have mentioned earlier.
But where can you find caffeine other than in coffee? Despite the fact that coffee is the main source of caffeine since a cup of coffee is thought to contain around 150-200 milligrams of pure caffeine, there are other sources that you can try if you want to intake caffeine and for some reason, you want to avoid drinking coffee at the same time.
Most soft drinks have added caffeine containing around 20 to 70 milligrams of caffeine. And for the tea lovers, there is black tea, containing 47 milligrams of caffeine and green tea, containing 25% of caffeine!
Chocolate as well contains high amounts of caffeine since cocoa beans are used to produce it. A chocolate bar can contain up to 70 milligrams of pure caffeine.
You see, there are different sources of caffeine, and we hope that at least one is up to your expectations!
And now we get to you, and we hope, yours as well, favorite part of today’s article. Now that you are well familiar with the basics about caffeine let’s discuss how this compound can help you lose weight.
Lipolysis is the term being used to refer to a process in which the lipids in your body are broke down, and the triglycerides are turned to glycerol and free fatty acids. Lipolysis occurs mainly in the adipose tissue, and it is the main process which is responsible for mobilizing the stored energy during exercise. And caffeine stimulates and enhances this process. (4)
To make it simple, caffeine influences and speeds up the mobilization of stored fats from the fat tissue so that you would actually burn more fats and with that lose more weight. And that, of course, is possible by stimulating the nervous system and increasing the levels of epinephrine! (5)
Stimulating lipolysis is one thing, but caffeine is also able to boost your metabolism as well. Caffeine is able to increase your metabolic rate and the higher your metabolic rate is, the more calories you are burning. It has been scientifically proven that caffeine is able to increase the metabolic rate for as much as 3-11% and higher doses are able to increase this rate even higher. (6)
This effect is especially seen when caffeine is consumed before exercise. A study found that consuming caffeine before exercise increases the number of fats burned during the exercise. (7) What actually happens is instead of burning carbohydrates in order to maintain good energy levels which you require during your exercise, your body is burning more fats instead and with that adding to the weight loss effect that you try to achieve!
Caffeine is able to reduce your appetite and hunger which is always welcomed in the process of losing weight. You will be able to cut your usual calorie intake without feeling hungry at the same time. This will also help you to stick to your diet plan better, without feeling hungry and in need to starve yourself in order to achieve the goal of weight loss.
However, a study published in 2012, found that the appetite suppressing effect of caffeine is stronger in obese and overweight individuals rather than in individuals with a healthy weight. (8)
In addition, since caffeine has a mood-altering attribute, as we mentioned before, it is able to influence your mood and help you achieve a state of good mood. And we all have experienced higher cravings and the need for comfort eating when we are in a negative mood. So by simply improving our mood, caffeine is able to suppress our appetite and the need to eat when we are not even feeling hungry.
Not only is consuming caffeine before your exercise will help you burn more fats and with that enhance the weight loss process, but it will also enhance your exercise! According to a study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, consuming caffeine before exercising enhanced the exercise performance by 11-12% on average. (9)
You will feel more energized and ready for what is coming as soon as you enter the gym and start your workout routine for the day. We recommend you to organize your working out in the mornings, when it is possible, to use the energy that you have gained from your sleep the night before and that fresh, warm cup of coffee in the morning!
The scientific research investigated the effects of a caffeinated gum given to rugby players at their halftime. The results showed that after 15 minutes, an increase of 70% in the salivary testosterone levels were reported. (10) This serves as clear proof that caffeine is also able to influence the testosterone levels and cause an increase. This is pretty significant thinking how important testosterone is in the process of losing weight and forming strong, lean muscles in the process as well.
Although caffeine is rated as safe to use on a daily level to feel more energized, awake and even achieve the previously mentioned effects, focusing on weight loss, we want to remind you of the safe once again and recommended doses of caffeine on a daily level.
As we mentioned before, 400 milligrams of caffeine is considered to be safe according to the FDA. By consuming anything above that dose, you are putting yourself at the risk of experiencing the previously mentioned common side-effects by caffeine overdose.
In addition, although caffeine is safe to be consumed to achieve the weight loss effects, we want to remind our readers of one unfortunate fact. The thing is that, unfortunately, as we consume caffeine on a daily level, we actually become tolerant to the effects of caffeine over time.
What does this mean, you ask? This means that effects such as a boost of the metabolic rate and an increase in the fat burning process are only temporarily achieved with the use of caffeine. Over time, you become tolerant to these effects, and you stop experiencing them or you experiencing them at a much smaller rate as compared with the beginning. In order to achieve these effects once again, you would have to increase your caffeine intake on a daily basis. But this is where it gets tricky.
You are not supposed to increase your caffeine intake higher than 400 milligrams a day, as we mentioned before due to the risk of experiencing the common side-effects. However, that does not mean that caffeine will not help you at all with your weight loss process. This does not change the fact that we are talking about an effective weight loss agent. Caffeine is one of the few natural, effective weight loss agents out there, and you just have to be patient and believe in its effects.
Caffeine does so much more than simply wake you up in the morning. It suppresses your appetite, enhances your exercise, boosts your testosterone levels and much more in order to help you lose weight faster and most importantly using a healthy, recommended technique. Not to mention all of the other health benefits that caffeine has on our bodies.
Do not hesitate to choose caffeine on your side in your battle against those annoying extra extra pounds. You will get to enjoy in its perfect taste and lose weight in the process!
(1) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691513007175
(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4115368/
(3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28675917
(4) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10068-010-0151-6
(5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11815511
(6) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2912010
(7) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29727404
(8) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.20190
(9) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2005.00445.x
(10) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29210957
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