Does coffee make you gain weight especially when taken in excess? Can it lead to what others refer to as coffee belly? Read on to find out more plus tips to drink your coffee without worrying about weight increase.
Coffee and Weight Gain-Can coffee cause weight gain?
Statistics show that coffee is one of the most popular drink globally. How is this popular associated with adding up pounds?
What is the link between coffee and weight gain?
- Caffeine and weight gain cortisol
Overdoing the consumption of coffee could lead to weight gain. This is according to the new research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Similarly, according to the National Coffee Drinking Trends report, American coffee consumption is up 5 percent and 83 percent of adults drinking coffee.
Inasmuch as drinking one or two cups of brewed coffee is good for your health, drinking more than that in a day can make you to develop health related issues where weight gain is one of them.[1]
An average cup of brewed coffee has about 2 calories. The average blended drink can contain somewhere between 50 to 100 calories. A research by the Australian, Agricultural and Food Chemistry explains the connection.
The publication points out that drinking five cups of coffee per day can bring about weight gain. The reason is because it can worsen the metabolic syndrome, which is a contributor to the stored fats in the stomach and waist. Polyphenols contained in the coffee also contribute to the weight gain.
On the other hand, coffee increases the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol which in return leads to increased cravings for sugary foods. The consumption of excess sugary foods leads to the deposition of the excess in form of fat. This is the key reason for the weight gain. Fat will be spotted around the waist and the stomach.
The production of cortisol is well coordinated in a particular system in the body. When you take coffee, it deprives your body of sleep. Deprivation of sleep leads to the production of the stress hormone cortisol. Increased stress, increased cortisol secretion and reduced sleep are connected to weight gain. This a fact supported by various other researches.
Deprivation of sleep makes you feel so tired and when you wake up, you will be so hungry. This makes you have more craving for the food. To support this, it is observed that appetite and satiety controlling hormones like ghrelin spike during the day.
Another explanation, consumption of about 200mg of coffee worsens anxiety if you are already predisposed to this condition. This disrupts peaceful sleep. As a consequence, this poses stress to the body tissues, increased cortisol and hence weight gain.
Cortisol plays a role in encouraging fat storage. According to Shawn Talbott, PhD, Author of Cortisol Connection, cortisol encourages your body to store fat, a process that is aided along by higher levels of insulin.[2]
There is also a connection between cortisol and the hormone insulin, which is responsible for the control of body blood sugar. Insulin also has a role in getting the fat stored in the fat cells of your body.
An increase in cortisol secretion leads to a scenario where there is insulin resistance and then you are likely to bulk up a lot of sugar and fat, hence full blown diabetes. A high stress level makes you produce little amounts of anabolic hormones, this makes the body to store up more and more fat and the excess calories.
Further to the research, overconsumption of coffee could be counterproductive to the weight regulation efforts. It is likely that CGA which stands for chlorogenic acid, a polyphenol found in coffee could hinder fat loss from your body. In return it causes insulin resistance [3]
Does black coffee cause weight gain?
Black coffee has no calories in it. What is put in the coffee as additives is the one that could make you gain some weight. The additives may include sugar, creamer, whipped cream and even chocolate. The coffee is however likely to impair blood glucose levels thus triggering negative physical events in your body.
Coffee Belly Fat
- Can taking too much of lead to stomach fat?
It has been revealed by research that coffee could lead to the deposition of a few pounds of stubborn tummy fat, a fall in the stimulation of adrenaline release and this increases levels of cortisol circulating in your body and this encourages the deposition of fat around your stomach.
In addition, you are likely to be tempted to add some few spoons to your cup of tea in order to sweeten it. Doing this will make you to have a serious insulin spike adding to the risen levels of cortisol. These combined become very disastrous if you intend to lose some weight. There is a lot of fat accumulation especially around the middle.
The reason why the above happens is because insulin is your body’s fat storing hormone. It instructs the body to store fat around the midriff in order to be easily accessed for quick energy. Therefore, cortisol and insulin work in synergy to store fat around the belly. They also increase your cravings for sugar and hence more fat.
Taking too much coffee also puts much stress to the liver and this in return makes the liver to work extra. Too much pressure slows down the metabolism of fat in the body and neutralize toxins. In the end there is an accumulation.
Coffee also stresses the adrenal glands, stomach and kidney as the body tries to get rid of the excess caffeine. This causes the excretion of vitamins as the body adjusts. In the long run, there is blood sugar irregularities as well.[4]
Ideas to maintain a Healthy Weight while taking Coffee
- The first thing to do get any sugar out of the coffee.
This is probably the most important tip for healthier coffee drinking. This might prove tough because the coffee has no taste. It will not take you long before you realize that what keeps you craving in the drink is the sugar instead of coffee.
Once you ditch the sugar, your palette becomes more attuned to the various types of roasts and regional variations. You will start enjoying the taste of coffee instead of the taste of sugar.
Instead, try adding just cream (preferably raw if you can get it) in place of sugar. This helps you to get the sugar out once and for all. The fat in cream will cut the bitterness of coffee. Cream also has a natural sweetness that can help you wean off the refined white stuff.
Finally avoid flavored cream/creamer concoctions. These are made with hydrogenated vegetable oils, corn syrup and a whole host of other chemicals.[5]
- The other thing that you ought to do is to obtain whole beans and grind them at home.
Coffee beans, like anything, starts to breakdown and become rancid once the inner contents are exposed to oxygen and moisture. You can prove this with the naked eye by cutting open an apple and see what happens.
The white flesh starts turning brown pretty fast. This is due to its exposure to oxygen and moisture, the enemies of freshness. The anti-oxidants in coffee will start to oxidize immediately after grinding, which is very beneficial if you drink the coffee soon after.
- Ensure you only take one cup of coffee in a day
This amount is good enough because your liver can handle that. In case you are used to taking more than that, it is very prudent that you cut it down. The reduction can be done very slowly.
Other strategies for reducing the caffeine content include a second brewing from the same beans and including half decaf (Swiss mater method only) in each cup.
- Also, make sure if you must take, drink coffee after a meal.
You would probably want to take the coffee in the morning. However, it is definitely better to wait until you have some food in your system before downing that cup of coffee.
Caffeine causes your body to release sugar into your bloodstream which in turn causes the pancreas to release insulin (another good reason to get sugar out).
On an empty stomach this can cause a sharp drop in blood sugar which can then set up more sugar cravings. Furthermore, the caffeine in coffee can suppress your appetite causing you to go longer without feeling hungry.
This sets up further episodes of low blood sugar and further coffee and sugar cravings. Having food in your stomach will help modulate this blood sugar response and keep those cravings at bay.
- Consider taking green coffee
Apart from the taste has something special attached to it when it comes to weight regulation. It is referred to as green coffee since it is made from green coffee beans. Green coffee is usually in its unroasted form which as such is the most beneficial form in which coffee can be consumed.
You would trust green coffee for weight regulation since it contains the earlier mentioned chlorogenic acid. Weight gain is due to unbroken fats and excess calories in most cases. This acid improves body metabolism such as faster breakdown of fats. When the body systems work at their peak, weight regulation is facilitated.
For those who believe in exercise for weight regulation, you should try accompanying the exercise with green coffee and you will have the results sooner than expected. Green coffee is a sure tool to keep you healthy and help in maintaining the most desirable body weight.
Sources and Citations
[1] http://www.naturalnews.com/034674_coffee_cortisol_weight_gain.html
[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/10085206/Regular-coffee-drinkers-at-increased-risk-of-weight-gain.html
[3] http://cortisolconnection.com/ch6_2.php
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2257922/
[5] https://www.sharecare.com/health/coffee-drink-health/does-drinking-coffee-weight-gain
