Drinking four cups of coffee daily could reduce body fat by about 4%, according to a recent study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers. The finding comes from a 24-week investigation in which 126 overweight, non-insulin sensitive adults drank daily either four cups of regular coffee or four cups of a coffee-like placebo beverage. The study was designed to determine if coffee consumption reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Previous observational studies have linked drinking coffee with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, yet coffee’s effects on blood sugar metabolism have not been well defined. In the current study, coffee did not affect the study participants’ sensitivity to insulin – the hormone that regulates sugar levels in the blood. The study did yield an unexpected result: Drinking coffee was associated with a modest loss of body fat.
According to a January 13, 2020 HealthDay News article, Derrick Alperet, a study coauthor and research fellow in the Department of Nutrition, and colleagues think that the fat loss may be due to the caffeine in coffee increasing the drinker’s metabolism, which may burn more calories and cause a decrease in body fat.
Read the HealthDay News article: Could Your Morning Coffee Be a Weight-Loss Tool?