Coffee and other caffeinated drinks help reduce the amount of body fat you accumulate, even if you like your cake, biscuits and other processed, sugary food.
Thus far, it’s an approach that has been tested only on laboratory rats, so nobody can be sure the same results would be seen in people, but it’s looking encouraging.
In their tests, the researchers from the University of Illinois discovered that the rats given caffeinated drinks had gained 16 percent less weight, and accumulated 22 percent less body fat, than other rats that weren’t given the drink – even though both groups ate exactly the same sugary foods.
The groups were fed a diet that contained 40 percent fats, 45 percent carbohydrates and 15 percent protein over a four-week period, and half were also given mate tea, a caffeinated herbal drink, or coffee.
Both the mate tea and coffee are “anti-obesity agents”, said researcher Elvira Gonzalez in conclusion.
They also helped reduce fat accumulation in body organs such as the liver.
(Source: Journal of Functional Foods, 2019; 103646; doi: 10.1016/j.jff.2019.103646)
