Does Drinking Coffee Help You Lose More Calories?

Natural Health Questions

By Lifestyle

I got this long question last week: Does drinking coffee before working out helps you lose more calories? They say that coffee increases your heart rate, so does taking black coffee before working out will make you lose more?

There are some few studies indicating caffeine may boost calorie burning. Caffeine may stimulate thermogenesis… the way our body generates heat and energy from digesting food. But this probably isn’t enough to produce significant calorie burning.

Caffeine, like that found in our favorite coffee drink, can give us a boost in our heart rate. It is a stimulant, and too much can cause nervousness, insomnia and other problems. Normally, our heart beats 50 to 100 beats per minute. If our heart rate is higher than that, it’s considered to have an abnormal rhythm or a condition called tachycardia. The risk therefore will depend on how much caffeine intake we have and how healthy we are.

On the upside, physiologically, caffeine makes us feel alert, pumps adrenaline to give us energy and changes dopamine production to make us feel good. Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system by blocking adenosine, a neurotransmitter that normally causes a calming effect in the body. The resulting neural stimulation due to this blockage causes the adrenal glands to release adrenaline, the “fight or flight” hormone. Your heart rate increases, your pupils dilate, your muscles tighten up, and glucose is released into your blood stream for extra energy. Voila… you now have the caffeine buzz.

In addition to various psychological and physiological benefits, numerous studies have documented caffeine’s ergogenic effect on athletic performance, particularly in regard to endurance. Studies show that caffeine ingestion prior to exercising extended endurance in moderately strenuous aerobic activity. Other studies researching caffeine consumption on elite distance runners and distance swimmers show increased performance times following caffeine consumption.

Despite coffee/caffeine’s positive effects on psychological states and performance, there are numerous documented risks that must be considered when consuming caffeine, whether for performance-enhancing effects or simply as a part of daily dietary consumption.

Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system and can produce restlessness, headaches, and irritability. Caffeine also elevates your heart rate and blood pressure. Over the long-term as your body gets used to caffeine, it requires higher amounts to get the same effects. Certainly, having your body in a state of hormonal emergency all day long isn’t very healthy.

Caffeine is also a diuretic and causes a loss of fluid, which then leads to a dehydrating effect. This is obviously not conducive to fitness activities such as resistance training, as fluid is needed for the transfer of nutrients to facilitate muscular growth. It is also important when considering the further loss of fluid while exercising in hot environments.

In conclusion, though caffeine has some benefits in relation to exercise performance, risks have been documented. Most problems seem evident with very high consumption. The American Heart Association says that moderate coffee drinking (one or two cups per day) does not seem to be harmful for most people. As with everything else, moderation is the key to healthy caffeine consumption. Further research is needed to clearly determine whether the performance-enhancing benefits of caffeine outweigh the potential risks.

Resouces:
Topend Sports Network