Cold brew coffee, a beverage with roots tracing back to the 1600s, has seen a resurgence in popularity in the 21st century. This article delves into the potential weight loss benefits of cold brew coffee, along with its other impressive health advantages, and explores its history and preparation.
The Rise of Cold Brew
Instead of using hot water to extract flavor and caffeine from coffee beans, cold brew relies on time, steeping the beans in cold water for 12-24 hours. This method results in a less bitter drink than hot coffee, which appeals to many.
The practice of making coffee with cold water has historical precedents. It’s said that Dutch trading ships brought coffee to Japan, resulting in the ancient but modern practice of Kyoto-style coffee. This style of coffee is made by allowing water to slowly drip over coffee grounds inside glass towers. The Mazargan, iced coffee made with lemon, trended in the 1840s and originates in Algeria. In his 1922 book All About Coffee, William Harrison Ukers describes the Cuban custom of making coffee. The coffee is ground fine and placed into a “receiving vessel.” One pours cold water over the grinds many times “until the coffee mass is well saturated.” Ukers states that one ends up with a concentrated coffee extract used for making cafe noir, cafe au lait, or to one’s preference. This process is a century-old description of how we essentially make cold brew today.
It wasn’t until the 1990s that coffee concentrate was used en masse across the United States. Popular coffee chains began to heavily market cold brew, such as Starbucks in 2015.
Weight Loss Potential
People don’t often associate delicious tastes with weight loss, but cold brew coffee is a game changer. For every doubling of caffeine intake, the mean reduction in BMI, fat mass and weight was 17, 22 and 28 (2 beta-fold) respectfully, according to a 2019 meta-analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials. The systematic review indicated that caffeine intake may promote reduction in BMI, fat reduction and weight. A 2020 study conducted by the researchers at the Harvard T.H.
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Caffeine and Metabolism
Metabolism is the process by which your body uses food to create energy. The higher your metabolic rate, the more calories you burn at rest. The caffeine in cold brew coffee can increase how many calories you burn at rest. This may make it easier to lose or maintain weight. Just like hot coffee, cold brew coffee contains caffeine, which has been shown to increase your resting metabolic rate by up to 11%. Caffeine appears to boost metabolic rate by increasing how quickly your body burns fat. In a study in 8 men, ingesting caffeine led to a 13% increase in calorie burning, as well as a 2-fold increase in fat burning - much greater effects than they experienced after taking a placebo or beta-blocker (medication for blood pressure and circulation).
Appetite Suppression
According to the Mayo Clinic, caffeine is a natural appetite suppressant and delays our feelings of hunger for a short period. Caffeine also triggers a natural increase in epinephrine and norepinephrine, which helps boost our metabolism. When these two hormones increase in our blood, they affect how our body breaks down fat stored in cells used for energy.
Additional Health Benefits of Cold Brew Coffee
While most research focuses on hot brew, cold brew is thought to offer many similar effects.
Mood Enhancement
The caffeine in cold brew coffee may improve your state of mind. Caffeine consumption has been shown to enhance mood, especially among sleep-deprived individuals. Among those who are sleep-deprived, caffeine consumption has been shown to boost mood and mental acuity at a dose of approximately 300 milligrams, according to the National Library of Medicine. A review of studies in over 370,000 people found that those who drank coffee had lower rates of depression. In fact, for every cup of coffee consumed per day, depression risk sank by 8%. Some research even suggests that caffeine could be used as a nutritional supplement to boost mood and brain function in older adults. In a study in 12 adults ages 63-74, taking 1.4 mg of caffeine per pound (3 mg per kg) of body weight improved mood by 17%. This amount of caffeine is equivalent to around two cups of coffee for the average-sized person. Caffeine also improved their ability to react to an object moving toward them, indicating that it increases focus and attentiveness.
Heart Health
Cold brew coffee contains compounds that may reduce your risk of heart disease, including caffeine, phenolic compounds, magnesium, trigonelline, quinides, and lignans. These increase insulin sensitivity, stabilize blood sugar, and lower blood pressure. The drink also contains chlorogenic acids (CGAs) and diterpenes, which act as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. Drinking 3-5 cups of coffee (15-25 ounces or 450-750 ml) daily may lower your risk of heart disease by up to 15%, compared to people who don’t drink coffee. That said, people with uncontrolled high blood pressure should avoid drinking caffeine regularly, as this may further elevate their levels.
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Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Cold brew coffee may reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In fact, drinking at least 4-6 cups of coffee per day is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. A 2009 study of about 40,011 participants who consumed at least three cups (or up to five cups) of regular coffee or tea daily found that they were 42% less likely to have type 2 diabetes. The participants were followed up with for a decade, with adjustments made for such factors as magnesium and blood pressure levels. These benefits may be largely due to chlorogenic acids, which are powerful antioxidants in coffee. Cold brew coffee may also regulate gut peptides, which are hormones in your digestive system that control and slow digestion, keeping your blood sugar stable. One study in over 36,900 people ages 45-74 found that those who drank at least 4 cups of coffee per day had a 30% lower risk of type 2 diabetes than individuals who didn’t drink coffee daily. A review of 3 large studies in more than 1 million people found that those who increased their coffee intake over 4 years had an 11% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, compared to a 17% higher risk in those who reduced their coffee intake by more than 1 cup per day.
Protection Against Neurodegenerative Diseases
In addition to increasing your attentiveness and mood, cold brew coffee may benefit your brain in other ways. Caffeine stimulates your nervous system and may affect how your brain functions. One recent study observed that drinking coffee can protect your brain from age-related diseases. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases are neurodegenerative conditions, which means they are caused by brain cell death that occurs over time. Both illnesses can result in dementia, a decline in mental health that makes daily activities difficult. Alzheimer’s disease is marked by significant memory impairment, while Parkinson’s often causes physical tremors and stiffness. One observational study found that people who drank 3-5 cups of coffee per day during mid-life had a 65% lower risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s in old age. Another observational study noted that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease. In fact, men who drink more than four cups of coffee per day are five times less likely to develop this condition. It appears that several compounds in coffee, such as phenylindanes, as well as harman and nonharman compounds, provide protection against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Keep in mind that decaffeinated coffee doesn’t appear to offer the same protective benefits as caffeinated varieties.
Gentler on the Stomach
Many people avoid coffee because it’s an acidic beverage that may stimulate acid reflux. The acidity of coffee also tends to be blamed for other ailments, such as indigestion and heartburn. Cold brew and hot coffee generally have similar acidity levels, around 5-6 on the pH scale, though this can vary depending on individual brews. Still, some studies have found cold brew to be slightly less acidic, which means it may irritate your stomach less. Another reason why this beverage may be less irritating than hot coffee is its content of crude polysaccharides. These carbohydrates, or chains of sugar molecules, boost the immunity of your digestive system. This may decrease gut irritation and the bothersome effects of coffee’s acidity on your stomach.
Potential for Increased Longevity
Drinking cold brew coffee may reduce your overall risk of death, as well as dying from disease-specific causes. A long-term study in 229,119 men and 173,141 women ages 50-71 found that the more coffee people drank, the lower their risk of death from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries, accidents, diabetes, and infections. One reason for this association may be that coffee is high in antioxidants. Though studies show that hot coffee contains more total antioxidants than cold brew varieties, the latter packs some very potent antioxidants, such as caffeoylquinic acid (CQA). Antioxidants help reduce the risk of many major health concerns due to their ability to fight free radicals in the body. Coffee is rich in antioxidants that reduce inflammation in the body, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Antioxidants are compounds that help prevent cell damage that can lead to chronic illnesses like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. These conditions can significantly reduce your lifespan.
Caffeine Content
Cold brew coffee is made as a concentrate that’s meant to be diluted with water, usually in a 1:1 ratio. The concentrate is incredibly strong on its own. In fact, undiluted, it provides about 200 mg of caffeine per cup. However, diluting the concentrate - as is customary - reduces the caffeine content of the final product, bringing it closer to that of regular coffee. Though caffeine content can vary depending on the brewing method, the difference in caffeine content between hot coffee and cold brew is insignificant. The average cup of hot coffee contains around 95 mg of caffeine, compared to about 100 mg for a typical cold brew.
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Making Cold Brew at Home
You can easily make cold brew coffee at home.
- Purchase whole roasted coffee beans locally or online and coarsely grind them.
- Add 1 cup of grounds to a large jar and gently stir in 4 cups of water.
- Cover the jar and let the coffee steep in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
- Place cheesecloth into a fine mesh strainer and pour the steeped coffee through it into another jar.
- Discard the solids that collect on the cheesecloth or save them for other creative uses. The liquid that remains is your cold brew coffee concentrate.
- Cover the jar with an airtight lid and store your concentrate in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
- When you’re ready to drink it, add 1/2 cup (120 ml) of cold water to 1/2 cup (120 ml) of cold brew coffee concentrate. Pour this over ice and add cream if desired.
Cold-Brewed Jasmine Tea and Obesity: A Mouse Study
A study investigated the effects of cold-brewed jasmine tea (CB-JT) on obesity in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. The results demonstrated that CB-JT could significantly attenuate HFD-induced body weight gain, abnormal serum lipid levels, fat deposition, hepatic injury, inflammatory processes, and metabolic endotoxemia. CB-JT also modified the microbial community composition in HFD-fed mice and altered the balance to one closely resembled that of the control group. The differential abundance of core microbes in obese mice was reversed by CB-JT treatment, including an increment in the abundance of Blautia, Mucispirillum, and Bilophila as well as a decrease in the abundance of Alloprevotella. CB-JT was proved to regulate the mRNA expression levels of lipid metabolism-related genes such as Leptin, Pgc1a Il6, and Il1b in the adipose tissue coupled with Cyp7a1, Lxra, Srebp1c, and Atgl in the liver.
Materials and Methods of the Jasmine Tea Study
Jasmine tea in this experiment was purchased from Yunbiao Town, Hengxian, Guangxi, China. Briefly, fresh tea was preprocessed and mixed with jasmine, and then reheated, scented, separated, dried, and cooled. CB-JT was obtained by brewing the prepared jasmine tea leaves with 80-fold (m/v) cold water and steeping for 8 h at 4 °C. The tea infusion was collected prior to further analysis. Twenty-four male C57BL/6 mice (6 weeks old) purchased from Vital River Laboratories (Peking, China) were housed in a temperature- and humidity-controlled facility (temperature 22 ± 1 °C and humidity 50 ± 10%) and were randomly divided into three groups (n = 8) after 1 week adaptation: a normal-chow (NC) group (normal-chow diet containing 10% calories from fat, D12450J, with pure water, an HFD group (HFD containing 60% calories from fat, D12492, plus pure water), and the JT group, fed HFD with unlimited CB-JT supplementation as drinking water. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was further performed after glucose administration at the 8th week. At the end of the experimental schedule, the fresh fecal pellets and blood samples were separately harvested, and animals were then euthanized by cervical dislocation to obtain liver, adipose and colon tissues for subsequent biochemical and pathological analyses after an overnight fast. The serum concentration of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glucose as well as the content of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were quantified using commercial test kits (Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, Nanjing, China). Total RNA from epididymal adipose and liver tissue was extracted using TRIzol Reagent (Ambion, Austin, TX, USA) in line with the manufacturer’s instructions, and the mRNA expression levels of lipid metabolism-related genes were detected using qRT-PCR. Metagenomic DNA was extracted from fecal pellets, followed by 16S rRNA amplification of the variable 4 (V4) regions using an Illumina MiSeq platform (Novogene Genomics Technology Co.
Key Findings of the Jasmine Tea Study
Starting on the 4th week of HFD feeding, body weights in the JT group were notably lower than those in the HFD group (p < 0.05). In comparison with the HFD group, the significant decreases in the perirenal fat indices (perirenal fat weight to body weight ratio), epididymal fat indices (epididymal fat weight to body weight ratio) and liver indices (liver weight/body weight ratio) of the JT group were also seen. Serum TC, TG and LDL-C levels were noticeably raised in the HFD group by 2.12, 1.81, and 1.26 times, respectively, compared with the NC group; CB-JT intervention reduced the levels of circulating TC, TG and LDL-C (p < 0.05, p > 0.05, p < 0.05). 60 min after the glucose injection, blood glucose values were significantly lowered by CB-JT, and the area under the curve (AUC) of blood glucose decreased in mice fed with CB-JT compared with the HFD group (p < 0.05). HFD significantly raised the circulating IL-6, TNF-α, and LPS levels (p < 0.05 for all analyses) compared with those of the NC group, while decreases in the endotoxin and inflammatory cytokine levels were observed in the JT group with statistical significance. HFD feeding promoted adipocyte hypertrophy and raised adipocyte size compared to that in NC-fed mice (p < 0.05), while fat accumulation in HFD-mice was reversed by CB-JT intervention (p < 0.05). HFD upregulated the mRNA levels of critical lipogenic genes (Leptin, Il6, and Il1b) by 3.06, 2.98 and 4.68 times, respectively, with significant difference in date compared to the NC group. A 0.25-fold decrease in the mRNA expression of Pgc1a was also noticed in adipose tissues compared to that in the NC group (p < 0.05). The hepatic gene expression of Cyp7a1, Lxra, Ppara, and Atgl was significantly suppressed in mice fed with HFD, and the mRNA level of Srebp1c was promoted by HFD feeding compared to its respective level in NC-fed mice with statistical significance.