Weight Loss: Is Coffee Good or Bad

There is no one “magic” food or drink that will help everyone lose weight. But certain foods work for certain people. That being said, it all depends on your metabolic make up and whether certain foods agree with your system.

Often we become sensitive to a food we eat regularly, which can cause symptoms that we attribute to other things. Inflammation is the underlying cause of all disease and food sensitivities and gut imbalances cause inflammation. According to recent research, damage to the digestive system can lead to leaky gut, which triggers a system-wide immune response, leading to inflammation all over the body. This can result in obesity by increasing insulin resistance as well. So before I talk about some research about coffee and weight loss, the disclaimer is – this would only be true for you if coffee agrees with your particular system.

That being said, a new study found that drinking a cup of coffee stimulated “brown fat,” in the body, a type of fat that has calorie-burning properties. Brown fat works in a different way to other fat in your body and produces heat by burning sugar and fat, often in response to cold. I talked about that in more detail in this previous post.Increasing the activity of brown fat improves blood sugar control as well blood lipid levels. The extra calories burned help with weight loss.

According to this research, thermal imaging showed that one cup of coffee stimulated the brown fat in the study participants. The brown fat in the neck became hotter. More research is needed to understand exactly what is causing this to happen. Researchers are not sure whether it is the caffeine stimulating the brown fat or another property in the coffee.

I think it’s also important to say that what you put in your coffee will also make a difference. If you load it up with 3 teaspoons of sugar and heavy cream or consider one of the specialty coffees that have all kinds of sugary ingredients your “coffee,” you won’t experience the positive results.

You may be tempted to start drinking coffee or increase your intake, but as I said at the beginning, it’s important to note that coffee doesn’t agree with everyone’s system. So, if you’re new to coffee or want to have another cup, just be sure to pay attention to how your body reacts to it and adjust accordingly.

Do you drink coffee regularly? Have you found it to help with weight loss?

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