Coffee is the 3rd most popular beverage in the world, placing behind water and tea as number 1 and 2 respectively.
Not only does coffee taste great, but it has numerous health benefits and contains high levels of antioxidants.
Its high caffeine content is responsible for some of its health benefits, but drinking too much can cause side effects such as anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, irritability and digestive distress.
However, limiting your intake to 2-3 cups per day, with your last cup being no later than 4pm, means you can reap the rewards without the unwanted side effects and without having to cut it out of your diet completely.
Below, we’ve listed the top 5 benefits of drinking coffee
- Increased Energy and Motivation
As we mentioned above, coffee contains caffeine, which is a powerful stimulant that has been shown to improve mood, increase motivation and decrease fatigue.
This is a big benefit when you find yourself in the latter stages of a diet, where hunger, fatigue and lack of motivation all start to kick in.
- Increased Fat Burning and Energy Expenditure
In addition to increasing energy, caffeine also increases fat oxidation and drives up energy expenditure. Studies have shown that a single dose of 100-200mg of caffeine, which is equivalent to 1-2 cups of coffee, can increase resting energy expenditure by as much as 3-11%.
So once again, this becomes important during the later stages of a diet, where metabolic rate starts to slow down and weight loss can plateau.
- Increased Aerobic and Anaerobic Performance
In addition to the thermogenic and psychological benefits, caffeine also increases both your aerobic and anaerobic performance, which is important because improved performance will help spare muscle mass and drive up energy expenditure when training.
- Reduces Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Coffee consumption, including decaffeinated coffee has been associated with reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes. A systematic review done in 2009 with data from 18 observational studies (including information on 457,922 participants) reported that every additional cup of coffee consumed in a day was associated with a 7% reduction in the excess risk of diabetes relative risk.
Whilst another review looking at the effects of coffee consumption on glucose metabolism reported that coffee may improve glucose metabolism by reducing the glucose levels and improving insulin sensitivity.
- Increased Lifespan
Lastly, coffee has been associated with a 20-26% reduced risk of death in healthy populations, and a 30% lower risk of death in individuals with Type 2 diabetes.
This effect is likely due to the high antioxidant levels that coffee contains.
So there you have it. 5 great reasons to carry on drinking coffee, whether that’s pre-workout or just throughout the day.
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