In our modern lifestyle, cold coffee has become a popular and refreshing beverage, especially during hot days. Whether enjoyed at a café or made at home, its convenience and delicious taste make it a favorite among coffee lovers. Beyond its refreshing qualities, cold coffee, particularly when consumed black (without milk or sugar), offers several potential health benefits, including aiding in weight loss.
The Appeal of Cold Coffee
Cold coffee, or even iced coffee, has become a summer staple for many. It's easy to make, refreshing, and delicious, tasting great with or without milk. However, drinking cold coffee black, without any milk or sugar, has advantages beyond just taste.
Weight Loss Benefits of Cold Black Coffee
Cold black coffee can be a delicious, non-fattening drink that may even help with weight loss. Here's how:
Boosting Metabolism
Much like hot black coffee, cold black coffee contains caffeine, which can increase your resting metabolic rate by about 11%. This, in turn, helps your body burn fat faster. The caffeine in cold brew coffee can increase how many calories you burn at rest, making it easier to lose or maintain weight. Studies show that caffeine can increase your resting metabolic rate, which is the number of calories you burn in a resting state, by up to 11%.
Suppressing Hunger
Cold black coffee is rich in caffeine, aiding in increasing not just your metabolic rate but also your energy levels. This helps suppress your appetite, cutting down on unnecessary munching and reducing calorie consumption throughout the day. Cold coffee can act as a natural appetite suppressant, helping you keep track of calories consumed in the entire day.
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Pausing Glucose Production
Cold black coffee contains a specific type of acid that can help slow down the production of glucose and fat cells in your body, making it beneficial to have after a meal.
Preventing Water Retention
Cold black coffee helps reduce water content in your body, preventing uncomfortable bloating and water retention, a common weight-related issue faced by many people. Drinking cold coffee can also reduce fluid retention, helping with weight management.
Pre-Workout Energy Booster
The caffeine content in cold black coffee helps increase your energy and strength, making it a good pre-workout drink for a fruitful sweat session.
Low-Calorie Drink
Because it’s consumed without any milk or sugar, cold black coffee has very few calories and no fats or cholesterol, making it a guilt-free drink to enjoy any time of the day. A glass of black cold coffee counts as one of those ideal weight-loss beverages with just two to five calories per serving.
The Role of Caffeine
Caffeine is the primary component in cold black coffee, and it's key to its weight-loss potential. Research indicates that the caffeine present in cold coffee can increase a person's resting metabolic rate (RMR) by as much as 11%. This means your body absorbs and burns more calories while at rest with caffeine intake than without it.
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Studies also suggest that coffee induces the fat-burning process by enhancing the secretion and egestion of fatty acids and globules from fat reserves. Coffee can also reduce the feeling of hunger by influencing hormones that regulate appetite, suppressing appetite and creating a sensation of fullness, hence decreasing food cravings.
Additional Health Benefits of Cold Coffee
Beyond weight loss, cold coffee offers several other potential health benefits:
Improved Digestion
Cold coffee's caffeine content encourages the production of digestive acids, helping food move through your system more effectively. Additionally, cold coffee's acidity counteracts stomach acid to reduce heartburn and indigestion symptoms.
Increased Energy Levels
Cold coffee's caffeine content can lead to improved energy levels. Caffeine blocks adenosine and increases the release of other neurotransmitters, resulting in increased alertness and focus.
Improved 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.
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Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Cold brew coffee may reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 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.
Reduced Risk of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease
Cold brew coffee may benefit your brain in other ways, protecting it 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. Cold brew coffee contains compounds called phenylindanes, as well as lower amounts of nonharman and harman compounds, which can help protect your brain from these diseases.
Easier on the Stomach
Cold brew coffee is only slightly less acidic than hot coffee but contains compounds that may protect your stomach from this acidity. As such, it may cause fewer unpleasant digestive and acid reflux symptoms than hot coffee.
Increased Life Expectancy
Drinking cold brew coffee may reduce your overall risk of death, as well as dying from disease-specific causes. One reason for this association may be that coffee is high in antioxidants, which help prevent cell damage that can lead to chronic illnesses like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
Mood Enhancement
Drinking cold brew coffee may boost your mood, reduce your risk of depression, and improve brain function. Caffeine consumption has been shown to enhance mood, especially among sleep-deprived individuals.
Cold Brew vs. Hot Coffee
While cold coffee and hot coffee can have similar health benefits, they differ considerably in taste, acidity, and caffeine impact. Cold coffee is less acidic and much smoother, and it often has a higher proportion of caffeine to volume compared to its hot counterpart. Hot coffee has a stronger smell, is speedy in preparation, and may actually allow for faster absorption of its antioxidant properties.
Considerations for Consumption
It's important to note that drinking cold black coffee solely won't make you lose weight. Caffeine plays the role of a tool or an aid in the weight reduction process and functions best in conjunction with a balanced diet and frequent exercise.
Avoid adding extra milk, creamers, or sugary syrups, as these additions greatly increase calorie consumption. Schedule your coffee intake, as timing is as important as the amount taken. Drinking a cold cup of coffee before exercise will improve output and burn calories.
Pay attention to your body's hunger signals, even though coffee can reduce hunger. Combining cold black coffee with a healthier lifestyle that includes a balanced diet and consistent exercise will yield the best effects.
Making Cold Coffee at Home
You can easily make cold brew coffee at home. Mix coarsely ground coffee beans with cold water, let steep for 12-24 hours, strain, and then dilute the concentrate with water at a 1:1 ratio.