Lose weight; lose body fat; gain protection from cancer. And get all these benefits from simply drinking 3 to 4 cups of a specially roasted “green” coffee. That’s the promise of a brand new study published today in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.
Here, a group of German researchers report that a coffee brewed from a combination of roasted green Arabica beans and other roasted bean compounds was shown in studies to reduce body fat and body weight by as much as .69kg in just 4 weeks, while also reducing markers of DNA damage by a whopping 40%.
“Our results allow [us] to conclude that daily consumption of 3-4 cups of [this] brew exert beneficial effects as evidenced by reduced oxidative damage, body fat mass and energy/nutrient uptake” say the researchers, lead by Professor Gerhard Eisenbrandt from the University of Kaiserslautern.
Working in conjunction with researchers at Technical University of Munich, the scientists tested the brew on just 33 healthy volunteers between the ages of 20 and 44, with a BMI ranging from 19 to 32 kg/m2. They compared the results to those not drinking the special brew.
At the conclusion of the 8 week study ( including 4 weeks drinking the coffee brew daily) researchers documented that not only was the coffee able to reduce markers of DNA damage, but once the coffee ingestion was stopped for 4 more weeks, the markers for the damage began to once again rise.
Moreover, the researchers also found that while drinking the coffee all of the participants appeared to lose both concentrations of body fat as well as actual weight. The down side: The thinner the participant was at the start of the study, the more weight they lost drinking the coffee. Overweight participants did lose some weight and body fat, but not as much as the thinner volunteers.
The researchers believe the coffee worked to reduce appetite and make the study subjects feel fuller longer, so they actually ate less. They also suggest that the high caffeine levels in the green coffee may have contributed to “thermogenisis” – a heating up of the body that often results in calorie burning.
Perhaps most important however, were the significant antioxidant effects of the green beans. This is the factor that helped reduce the incidence of DNA damage- which many believe is the first step to preventing cancer.
In previous studies coffee has been shown to help reduce the risk of diabetes as well as help improve liver health. In these studies the beneficial effects of the coffee were linked to high concentrations of polyphenols, natural chemicals also found in red wine and chocolate.
In the new research, the German scientists say the results were linked to other factors found in green coffee, including cholorogenic acids and a compound known as N-methylpyridinium or NMP, which is a natural chemical that forms during the roasting process.
Colette Bouchez is the author of ten books on women's health including her latest, Green Fertility: Nature's Secrets for Making Babies
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