Effects Of Black Coffee On Your Health & Does It Help In Weight Loss?

Medically reviewed by Shanmukha PriyaM.Phil and Ph.D. in Food Science and Nutrition

For all you coffee lovers, there is definitely no substitute for a hot brewed cup of coffee! The refreshing aroma not just stimulates our brain but also brings that big smile on our face.

We all prefer to have our cup of coffee prepared in our own special way. Some like to have black coffee, whereas, some may like their coffee with lots of milk in it. And then you have sugar, soy, vanilla, chocolate syrup and jaggery to consider.

No matter how you like your coffee, it is exactly what you need to kick-off your mornings or when your energy levels are ebbing in the evening. Moreover, coffee is quick and easy-to-drink anywhere and at any time.

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The impact of coffee is doubled when you drink it black and without any sweetener, plus you need not to worry about the calorie count of coffee.

A cup of black coffee consists of very fewer calories and offers much more than just caffeine and a comforting flavor.There is no denying the fact that consuming coffee judiciously has been tied to promoting good health.

Health experts around the world emphasize the health-promoting properties of black coffee when taken regularly, but in moderation, and weight loss is one of them. Let’s take a deeper look at coffee and its health effects!

A person having black coffee happily

7 Amazing Benefits of Drinking Black Coffee

1. Can Improve Energy Levels and Make You Smarter

Coffee can help people feel less tired and increase energy levels. That’s because it contains a stimulant called caffeine — the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance in the world.

After you drink coffee, the caffeine is absorbed into your bloodstream. From there, it travels to your brain. In the brain, caffeine blocks the inhibitory neurotransmitter adenosine.

When this happens, the amount of other neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and dopamine increases, leading to the enhanced firing of neurons.

Many controlled studies in humans show that coffee improves various aspects of brain function — including memory, mood, vigilance, energy levels, reaction times and general mental function.

2. Can Drastically Improve Physical Performance

Caffeine stimulates your nervous system, signaling fat cells to break down body fat.

But it also increases epinephrine (adrenaline) levels in your blood. This is the fight-or-flight hormone, which prepares your body for intense physical exertion.

Caffeine breaks down body fat, making free fatty acids available as fuel. Given these effects, it is unsurprising that caffeine can improve physical performance by 11–12%, on average.

Therefore, it makes sense to have a strong cup of coffee about half an hour before you head to the gym.

3. Contains Essential Nutrients

Many of the nutrients in coffee beans make their way into the finished brewed coffee. A single cup of coffee contains:

  • Riboflavin (vitamin B2): 11% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI).
  • Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5): 6% of the RDI.
  • Manganese and potassium: 3% of the RDI.
  • Magnesium and niacin (vitamin B3): 2% of the RDI.

Though this may not seem like a big deal, most people more than one or two cups per day — allowing these amounts to quickly add up.

4. May Lower Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a major health problem, currently affecting millions of people worldwide.

It is characterized by elevated blood sugar levels caused by insulin resistance or a reduced ability to secrete insulin.

For some reason, coffee drinkers have a significantly reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. Studies observe that people who drink the most coffee have a 23–50% lower risk of getting this disease.

One study showed a reduction as high as 67%. According to a large review of 18 studies, in a total of 457,922 people, each daily cup of coffee was associated with a 7% reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

5. Can Fight Depression and Make You Happier

Depression is a serious mental disorder that causes a significantly reduced quality of life. It is very common, as about 4.1% of people in the US currently meet the criteria for clinical depression. Studies suggest that drinking coffee can lower the risk of developing depression and boost mental health.

6. Coffee May Be Extremely Good for Your Liver

The liver is a remarkable organ that carries out hundreds of vital functions in your body. It is vulnerable to modern dietary pitfalls, such as consuming too much alcohol or fructose.

Cirrhosis is the end stage of liver damage caused by diseases like alcoholism and hepatitis, where liver tissue has been largely replaced by scar tissue.

Multiple studies have shown that coffee can lower the risk of cirrhosis by as much as 80%.

7. Coffee Can Help You Shed Extra Kilos and Helps in Weight Loss

Drinking coffee can help you shed those extra kilos.

But, if you think that it’s only the chlorogenic acid that makes black coffee ideal for weight loss, then you’d be surprised to know that black coffee also boosts various antioxidants, which are also equally responsible for effective weight loss.

Additionally, if you pair your regular intake of black coffee with a low-calorie diet, you will have amazing results in just no time. Black coffee consists of caffeine that very effectively increases metabolic activity and boosts energy level in our body.

Better metabolic activities and high energy levels may lead to suppression of hunger in the body. However, make sure to avoid adding sugar or other sweeteners to make it a low-calorie drink.

So, without any guilt and second thoughts, add black coffee to your daily diet and get ready to shed those extra kilos. You may consider adding jaggery, honey or nut milk to enhance the taste of your black coffee.

Additionally, black coffee is a natural healer. There are many people who end up weighing more due to excess water weight.

Black coffee helps decrease the extra water content in the body through frequent urination. This method helps to shed those extra pounds without any threatening side effects.

However, this weight loss is temporary. Before adding black coffee to your diet, it is better to consult your nutritionist/doctor. If you know more health benefits of black coffee, then feel free to share with us in the comments section below.

Contact our expert Possible Nutritionist for more information on superfoods and how to lose weight naturally. The first consultation is on us. Click here to avail.

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