What is Caffeine?
Name: Coffea arabica
Common Name: Coffee
Function: Known brain stimulant and fat burner
Ingredient usages in: PhenGold, Instant Knockout, Trimtone and many top fat burners available in the dietary supplement market.
Similar fat-burning ingredients: Green coffee, green tea, guarana, etc.
Around the 15th century C.E., coffee’s stimulant properties were well known to Ethiopians and southern Arabians. It was a part of religious ceremonies where it was used to stave off hunger pangs. Nowadays, coffee has become a designer drink. In modern cafes, baristas serve it to customers with additions, such as cream and chocolate!
What is not known so commonly is that Caffeine can also boost your metabolic rate, as well as, increase fat burning. That means coffee consumption is a healthy and completely natural way for weight loss!
How does it work?
Coffee has a three-pronged effect on the body trying to lose weight.
- Firstly, it hits the fat tissues and mobilizes the fat that is in them. It does that by stimulating your nervous system. The system then signals the fat cells directly, telling them to start breaking down fat!
- Secondly, caffeine is also involved in increasing the level of the hormone Epinephrine in our blood. It travels right to the fat tissues. There it too signals them to undergo fat breakdown. The hormone’s common name is Adrenaline. Thus, this is the second way in which caffeine affects fat breakdown. The released fat is in the form of free acids and is then ready to be used.
- Thirdly, coffee is also involved in increasing the rate of metabolism in our body. Caffeine causes the metabolic rate to increase by 3-11%! Additionally, caffeine achieves this height by an increase in the burning of fat! The percentage was found to be 29% in lean and 10% in obese people. Additionally, caffeine improves athletic performance by 11-12%. Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is actually the number of calories that we burn at rest. The higher the RMR due to high rate of metabolism, the easier it is for a person to lose weight. That also means, that person can eat that much more without gaining weight.
Benefits of Caffeine when trying to lose weight
Caffeine replaces the chemical, adenosine, in its action. That means the body does not go out of control during the substitution or get over-excited. Binding all adenosine-binding sites to itself, caffeine also releases neurotransmitters called dopamine. This stimulates the brain and ignites its pleasure centres. The result is enhanced concentration.
Dosage
Coffee consumption should be limited to less than 300 mg per day.
Caffeine and Green Tea
Caffeine, like everything else, needs to be consumed in moderation. There are reports that tell us that using caffeine with L-Theanine is much better. Alternatively, you can accompany your caffeine with green tea since L-Theanine is naturally found in green tea. L-Theanine prevents you from becoming restless and anxious that may happen when you use caffeine. Moreover, it does that without detracting caffeine from performing its action when used along with it.
Clinical studies
In one study (source), the effects of caffeine ingestion on ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were studied. Caffeine showed a 5.6% reduction in RPE as compared to placebo. Additionally, exercise performance improved by 11.2% with caffeine. These results demonstrate that caffeine has ergogenic effects on athletic performance. Thus, it may speed up weight loss when coupled with exercise.
Side effects
Healthy adults can easily tolerate coffee’s side effects. If you consume more than 300 mg of coffee per day, the result is irregular heartbeat and sleeplessness. These conditions are not common to everyone. Actually, caffeine has a six-hour long half-life. That is why having a big cup of coffee (200 mg) at 2pm would mean that by 8pm, there would still have as much active in your system. The amount is enough to cause disruption in your sleep cycle, even if not enough to cause insomnia.
Other Uses
Coffee is a nootropic and its active ingredient, Caffeine, is well-known for its mind stimulating properties.
Conclusion
Why opt for synthetic chemicals if you have a few extra pounds to lose? Try including caffeine in your daily life and watch as it burns the fat right out! Countless studies indicate the same thing – caffeine has negligible side effects while still being effective when it comes to weight loss. Moreover, there are so many other advantages, such as mental alertness and increased athletic performance that come with the use of caffeine. See you on the other side of your cup of Joe!
Sohail has been searching diets and belly fat solutions for over a decade, and manage a pool of trained authors to write articles, which have helped thousands of readers to this date. He has CPD accredited Certificate in Nutrition for Weight Loss besides his MBA degree. He also owns this website, which he founded in 2013 to share his ideas and knowledge. Not to mention he has tried numerous supplements over the years and has an extensive and thorough knowledge on supplements. Besides spending time on his study, research and literature, Sohail loves swimming, gardening and travelling.
