In a new study, researchers found that just 4 cups of coffee a day can help shed some body fat.
The research was conducted by a team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and elsewhere.
The team aimed to see if coffee could help lower the risk for type 2 diabetes risk by lowering the risk for developing insulin resistance, which can lead to dramatic spikes in blood sugar and, ultimately, diabetes.
They tracked coffee’s impact among 126 overweight men and women in Singapore for 24 weeks.
In the end, the researchers did not find evidence that coffee had such a protective effect.
But they found people who drank 4 cups of caffeinated coffee per day over six months saw a nearly 4% drop in overall body fat.
The team says the coffee-fueled fat loss may be the result of a metabolic reaction, in which caffeine causes the drinker’s metabolic process to ramp up.
The end result may be the burning of more calories and a notable drop in body fat.
The researchers say 4 cups of coffee appear to be on the high side of the intake, and they would not recommend everyone to try.
Although the higher caffeine content might have helped suppress appetite, too much caffeine may impact the body overall, causing headaches, jitters, rapid heartbeat, and stomach distress.
More research is needed to find out the exact mechanism of how coffee may work to decrease body fat.
The lead author of the study is Derrick Johnston Alperet, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Nutrition.
The study is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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