Green Coffee to Lose Weight

Every year a specific substance to lose weight becomes fashionable. Those who cash in with these supplements use well-known marketing techniques: present the product as something natural, promise to burn fat in record time, or even get results without any effort. These conditions are met by green coffee, the last substance sold for weight loss.

Green coffee is made from unroasted coffee beans. In addition to caffeine, it has a substance that is preserved when the beans are not toasted: chlorogenic acid. It supports advertising to sell green coffee as a substance that promotes weight loss.

What the studies say about green coffee extract

Unground and unroasted coffee beans contain a phytochemical, chlorogenic acid. Some studies in rats and humans suggest that its intake helps reduce the absorption of carbohydrates in the digestive tract, lowers blood sugar levels, as well as insulin spikes.

Other effects have been found in the consumption of green coffee that has to do with the improvement of certain pathologies and cardiovascular diseases:

• Decreased blood pressure.
• Reduction of homocysteine, an amino acid that is associated with strokes and cerebral infarcts.
• The increased vascular response, so green coffee could be an anti-inflammatory.

Other studies also suggest that this substance promotes the burning of fat so that green coffee or green coffee extract (form in which it is marketed in capsules and pills) would also have slimming effects. This would be true, if not for a nuance of the utmost importance.

Does green coffee work to lose weight?

The studies that have been carried out are few and with a limited sample of humans. Much less reliable are those that allude to the loss of fat, since they are not independent studies, but are made by laboratories that commercialize the green coffee extract. In other words, to say that green coffee helps lose weight responds to some interests, since it is not fully demonstrated in studies with a sufficient population and carried out by independent researchers without conflict of interest.

Therefore, green coffee is a new trend that takes advantage of one of the biggest epidemics (overweight and obesity) to sell more. Now, it is not that its consumption in the form of a drink (like traditional coffee) is inadvisable, but that it is the one of the supplements with this substance with the promise of losing weight.

Caffeine, a substance that increases metabolism

The other substance that contains both green and traditional coffee is, of course, caffeine. This stimulant is well known because a cup of coffee helps many people to stretch out when the sleep accuses at any time of the day.

This effect is very linked to the activation of the body and the increase in metabolism, so it is not unusual to find caffeine in fat burning products, does that mean that it helps to lose weight?

An increase in thermogenesis (self-regulation of body heat) and the oxidation of fats are two of the effects observed in the investigations that have been conducted on caffeine so far. The evidences of these effects are solid, although they do not have as much impact on the organism as many sell.

High doses of caffeine are required (between 200-500 mg per dose) to be able to observe both described effects. It is also important not to drink coffee regularly, as its effect is lost with daily consumption. On the other hand, there is also a need for more studies with larger samples and factors to be taken into account so that caffeine is clearly associated with weight loss.

To lose weight, the best combination consists of: a healthy diet, daily physical exercise and a restful rest. Finally, it is recommended that the consumption of food supplements, whether natural or not, be consulted in advance with a health professional who advises us about its usefulness or side effects in the body.