I love coffee.
No . . . let me be clear . . . I LOOOVE coffee.
So, I was overjoyed when the New England Journal of Medicine published the largest study associating coffee with protective health benefits.
The researchers doubted coffee.
In fact, there hypothesis was that coffee would be harmful.
I am happy to report that their hypothesis was incorrect.
In fact, coffee was associated with with less death, less heart disease, less respiratory disease, less diabetes, less infections and even less death by accidents (more alert drivers?).
The effect of this did NOT depend on caffeine as decaf demonstrated equivalent benefits. This makes sense because any of the benefits of coffee would be from protective micronutrients in the coffee and not the caffeine.
So, I am equally joyed to share with you that coffee may help with obesity related diseases.
Albeit this is a study in mice and therefore we cannot get too excited just yet (mice are not men . . . or women).
A study from the journal Pharmaceutical Research showed that injecting mice with chlorogenic acid (CGA) helped prevent insulin resistance and accumulation of fat in the livers of mice fed a high fat diet.
Chlorogenic acid is component in coffee that is a major bioactive compound with robust antioxidant properties. CGA is also abundant in fruits such as apples, pears, tomatoes, and blueberries as well as vegetables.
Although this study did not show improvements in obesity in mice, an earlier study from Food and Chemical Toxicology have shown benefits of CGA.
In this study, obese mice were fed a high fat diet and given CGA.
Chlorogenic acid significantly lowered body weight, visceral fat mass and plasma leptin and insulin levels compared to the high-fat control group.
But again, this is mice and not men (or women). But wait . . .
A study of the effects of CGA on humans does exist.
Researchers enriched instant coffee with chlorogenic acid and studied them for 12 weeks. When compared to a control group consuming normal instant coffee, the enriched CGA group lost more bodyweight and fat mass.
The results were significant.
The CGA group lost 5.7 kg (12 lb) in the 12 weeks and the normal instant coffee group lost only 1.7 kg (3-4 lb).
The authors discussed that CGA is known to block liver releasing glucose into the blood stream. In this case, fat is burned for energy in it’s place, which may account for the fat loss seen in the subjects.
CGA is also known to inhibit absorption of glucose in the gut which may also lead to weight loss.
A study from the American Journal of Nutrition surveyed men and women over 12 years and found an association for LESS WEIGHT GAIN in those who drank coffee. This study cannot prove cause and effect (that coffee directly caused the improved weight), but suggests the possibility that coffee consumption protects against weight gain to a small degree.
Other studies have looked at caffeine intake directly along with ephedra and have found modest short term benefits.
I would not drink coffee at this point just to lose weight and would not recommend caffeine supplements.
However, if you enjoy a good cup of coffee or an espresso, be thankful that your habit is likely safe and may be helping to keep you slimmer than you would otherwise be.
Best Health,
Nick
The Evidence:
Association of Coffee Drinking with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality
Chlorogenic Acid Improves High Fat Diet-Induced Hepatic Steatosis and Insulin Resistance in Mice
Changes in caffeine intake and long-term weight change in men and women
Image Credit: 'spro by Dan Lacher