Coffee before exercising could be the key to weight loss!

How can coffee help you lose weight? Coffee contains several biologically active substances that can affect metabolism:

• Caffeine – a central nervous system stimulant.
• Theobromine and Theophylline – substances related to caffeine that can also have a stimulant effect.
• Chlorogenic Acid – one of the biologically active compounds in coffee, may help slow absorption of carbohydrates.

Caffeine has made its way to most commercial fat burning supplements because it is one of the few substances that is known to help mobilize fats from the fat tissues and increase metabolism. Caffeine stimulates the nervous system, which sends direct signals to the fat cells to tell them to break down fat.

The higher our metabolic rate, the easier it is for us to lose weight and the more we can allow ourselves to eat without gaining. Studies have shown that caffeine can increase the metabolic rate by 3-11%, with larger doses having an even bigger effect. Most of the increase in metabolism is caused by an increase in the burning of fat. Unfortunately, the effect is less pronounced in those who are obese.

In the short term, caffeine can boost the metabolic rate and increase fat burning, but after a while, you become tolerant to the effects of caffeine and it stops working. But even if coffee doesn’t make you expend more calories long term, there is still the possibility that it will curb your appetite and help you eat less. Drinking coffee black is your best option for weight loss. Black coffee is calorie-free, it’s the cream and sugar that can pack on the pounds.

Of course, there are other great reasons to drink coffee. First of all, nothing replaces the feeling you get when you take that first sip of a great cup of coffee. Coffee makes you smarter. Not only can caffeine improve mood and reaction time but it also improves memory and general cognitive function. Not only can coffee make you smarter in the short term, it may also protect your brain in old age.

A cup of coffee contains:

• 6% of the RDA for Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5)
• 11% of the RDA for Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
• 2% of the RDA for Niacin (B3) and Thiamine (B1)
• 3% of the RDA for Potassium and Manganese
• Dark roasted coffee has less caffeine, and light roasted coffee has more.

This may not seem like a lot, but if you drink several cups of coffee per day it adds up quickly.

Then, there is also the fact that coffee is the single largest source of antioxidants in the western diet. Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source even outranking both fruits and vegetables, combined! In recent years Type II diabetes has reached epidemic proportions – having increased 10-fold in just a few decades. Drinking coffee is associated with a drastically reduced risk of type II diabetes. People who drink several cups per day are the least likely to become diabetic.

If all that wasn’t enough, coffee also can be protective against certain liver disorders, lowering the risk of liver cancer by 40% and cirrhosis by as much as 80%. Drinking coffee is associated with a lower risk of death by all causes!

Drinking coffee before exercise will give you a good boost, and will stimulate energy production and fat burning. As much as we may hate it exercise is an important part of weight loss and management. You can’t see the benefits of drinking coffee before exercising if you don’t get up and move. Besides, drinking a couple of cups of coffee before a workout could actually make it feel more enjoyable. So grab your pre-workout caffeine-packed cup of coffee and start your journey to better health.

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