Weight loss properties of coffee can be beneficial for tackling obesity: researchers
Highlights
- Coffee can make you feel more energetic
- It contains lots of beneficial antioxidants
- It can help in reducing type 2 diabetes risk
We bet you love your coffee way too much! Now, we give you another reason to fall all the more in love with your coffee. Scientists have found that drinking a cup of joe coffee can stimulate brown fat and aid weight loss. Stimulated brown fat can burns calories to generate body heat. This is the first study that has shown how coffee can affect brown fat in humans, according to The Sun. Brown fat works in a different way as compared to other fat in your body. It produces heat by burning sugar and fat, which is often in response to cold. This breakthrough discovery can help in tackling obesity crisis and may even be helpful for diabetics, University of Nottingham professor said.
Also read: 4 Cups Of Coffee Can Be Good For Heart Health; Health Benefits Of Coffee To Watch Out For
What is brown fat?
Brown fat is also known as brown adipose tissue, which is a special type of body that is activated when you get cold. It is brown fat that is responsible for producing heat in the body in cold conditions. It helps in maintaining body temperature in cold conditions.
Brown fat contains more mitochondria than white fat. These mitochondria work as engines of brown fat, which burns calories in order to produce heat. According to MayoClinic, brown fat has generated interest among researchers because of its ability to use body fat as fuel. Exercising too, stimulates hormones, that activate brown fat.
Coffee can stimulate brown fat, thus burning more calories and aiding weight loss
Photo Credit: iStock
Also read: Here's Why You Like Coffee More Than Tea: Benefits Decoded
Coffee for weight loss: what the study says
Increasing the activity of brown fat improves blood sugar control and also improves blood lipid levels. Burning of brown fat helps in burning extra calories, thus aiding weight loss.
For the study, researchers used stem cells in the lab to test their theory that caffeine can stimulate brown fat. Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the findings show that coffee really does make brown fat hotter and has the capability of aiding weight loss. More research is needed to determine what in coffee is exactly the cause behind its fat burning properties.
Also read: Did You Know Coffee Could Actually Help You Relieve Constipation? 5 Other Super Effective Home Remedies
Other health benefits of coffee
As far as you consume coffee in limited amounts and don't consume it as first thing in the morning, it can offer number of health benefits for you. Here are some of them:
1. Caffeine in coffee can make you feel more energetic. This is the reason why some people drink coffee in the morning, to get them through the day.
2. Coffee can be beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that coffee drinkers are at lesser risk of type 2 diabetes as compared to others.
Coffee lowers risk of type 2 diabetes
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3. Coffee contains beneficial antioxidants that can protect you from damage done by free radicals in the body.
So, a cup of coffee a day can do more good than harm. Celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar even says that you can add sugar to your coffee guilt free. This is included people with diabetes. Read here to know why she advocates this pattern of coffee consumption.
To everyone on a weight loss spree, did you have your coffee yet?
Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.