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coffee metabolism

Does drinking coffee increase your metabolism? Yes and no. The thing about coffee metabolism is that it’s a little complex but studies show it does have some health benefits.

First off lets discuss what coffee metabolism means. Basically when you drink a coffee or caffeinated beverage your body processes it’s various components in a certain way and converts those elements into energy. The critical ingredient in coffee that affects metabolism is caffeine which according to a particular study (published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1980) increases metabolism three hours after it is consumed. This increase in metabolism after drinking coffee has been shown to affect both overweight and average-weight individuals.

With an increase in metabolism your body can then more effectively convert foods into energy and caffeine has been scientifically proven to help the metabolic processes along. This means that not only can coffee be a great daily pick-me-up but also a potentially healthy boost to a weight loss regime and as part of an active lifestyle.

It is important to note that while delicious and a great booster of alertness not all caffeinated beverages are created nutritionally equal. There are specialty coffees that contain sugar which can make the metabolic boost basically ineffective since it is not enough to metobolize the extra sugar. So if you are trying to lose weight your best bet is to stick to a basic cup of strong black coffee such as Arabica that doesn’t contain all the fluff of excess sugar. If you must have your sugar and cream try to save those as well as other specialty coffee beverages for a nice once-in-a-while caffeinated treat.

Also since caffeine is the key component to increasing metabolism you can also benefit from drinking a black tea which while containing less caffeine than a coffee like Arabica it is still strongly caffeinated.

Make sure that before you start any metabolism boosting diet or exercise regime consult your doctor first. A medical health professional will be able to consult you on the best course of action and may even point you in the direction of some good quality coffee roasts!

Creative Commons License photo credit: Martin Gommel

Does drinking coffee increase your metabolism? Yes and no. The thing about coffee metabolism is that it’s a little complex but studies show it does
have some health benefits.
First off what does coffee metabolism mean? Basically when you drink a coffee beverage your
body processes it’s various components in a certain way and converts it into energy. The critical ingredient in coffee that
affects metabolism is caffeine which according to a particular study (published in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition 1980) increases metabolism three hours after it is consumed.
It is important to note that while delicious and a great booster of alertness not all caffeinated beverages are created nutritionally
equally. There are specialty coffees that contain sugar which can make the metabolic boost basically ineffective since it is
not enough to metobolise the extra sugar. So if you are trying to lose weight your best bet is to stick to a basic cup of black
coffee without all the fluff. Save the specialty coffee beverages for a nice once-in-a-while caffeinated treat.
Remember before you start a metabolism boosting diet or exercise regime consult your doctor first.