Coffee makes me skinny! Really?

There are so many different ideas and theories about coffee and if it makes you fat or skinny.

Most commonly people think that coffee makes you ‘skinny’ because it ‘increases’ your metabolism. Well, that’s not correct and you don’t need that kind of disinformation.

It is just another drug, such as alcohol or cigarettes. It’s highly addictive. What’s worse is that people have no idea how much it affects them and not just their physique. It influences their hormone regulation, energy, sleep, cardiovascular system (leading to heart disease), blood sugar (leading to diabetes), joints, muscles, bones (leading to chronic musculoskeletal conditions), and much more.

Did you know that sugar, caffeine, and alcohol are the leading causes of high blood pressure and thus heart disease?

I see client after client who drinks 3-4 coffees per day and don’t realize that it causes a lot of their musculoskeletal and health problems.

Coffee’s ability to make you fat has nothing to do with the added creamer or sweetener. Plain black coffee can make you fat. Coffee and caffeine trigger fat storage in human fat cells. Coffee/caffeine impairs blood glucose levels, thus triggering a metabolic cascade of negative physical events in the human body.

At any rate, even decaffeinated coffee has been proven to acutely impair glucose metabolism in healthy young men. So, clearly the pathogenesis of plain coffee—without caffeine—stimulates blood glucose imbalance and impacts adipose tissue fat production.

 

The hormone regulation

Cortisol:

Drinking regular coffee also causes the secretion of cortisol, a stress hormone, and a biochemical marker of stress that triggers belly-fat accumulation. Dr. Henry Kahn of the Emory University School of Medicine states, “There’s something about fat cells in the body—the way they respond to stress hormones. People with high levels of stress hormones have a tendency to store fat in their bellies.”
Stress activates cortisol, and so does the consumption of coffee and caffeine. Since stress and ingestion of cortisol-elevating foods and beverages are the main cause of cortisol elevation in humans. Avoiding the stimulation of cortisol is important in keeping body fat levels low.

Blood sugar / Insulin:

The biochemical disruptions caused by drinking coffee and/or caffeinated drinks (such as energy drinks) are related to their glycemic properties. Coffee elicits an acute insulin-insensitive environment in both healthy and obese individuals, and in type 2 diabetics. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center stated that “Daily consumption of coffee, tea, or soft drinks raises blood sugar levels and may even hinder efforts to control the condition [blood-sugar elevation].”
Simply put, elevating blood sugar and/or insulin levels in humans causes weight gain via adipose tissue fat cells.

 

Conclusions

Here’s the bottom line: 

Drinking coffee and/or caffeine energy drinks disrupts weight loss and elevates cortisol-driven belly fat. So, avoiding coffee and caffeine-related blood glucose excursions and cortisol elevation is mandatory in keeping fat cells at bay.

Read my next blog post for recommendations on what to replace your coffee with and how to beat your coffee addiction!

 

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