Fitness Gear: Get the Facts about Caffeine and Weight Loss- Fitness Training For Life

UltimateFitnessGear Posting Page

Monday, April 14, 2008

Get the Facts about Caffeine and Weight Loss

So what’s the real scoop on caffeine and weight loss? Does caffeine really help you lose weight or not? If you’re wondering what the facts are about caffeine and weight loss wonder no more. Here are the real facts about caffeine and weight loss. Is there a connection between caffeine and weight loss? The experts say no, there is no connection between caffeine and weight loss. Despite what some diet pills and diet supplements claim caffeine does not boost your metabolism and will not help you lose weight. There is some evidence that caffeine does cause your body to burn slightly more calories than usual but there is no evidence that it causes enough of a calorie burn to cause weight loss. There is evidence that caffeine can act like a mild appetite suppressant but again, not enough evidence to draw a link between caffeine and weight loss. What happens is that the companies making these diet pills and supplements know there is some truth to their claims that caffeine can help you burn calories and that caffeine can suppress your appetite and they exaggerate the link between caffeine and any weight loss program to get you to buy their product.

Medical studies have shown that caffeine can have a negative impact on weight loss. Caffeine in large doses can cause your blood sugar to spike which causes your body to release higher amounts of insulin which throws your endocrine system completely off balance. Too much caffeine can make you gain weight because if the sugar that is released into your bloodstream when your central nervous system is stimulated by the caffeine is not broken down fairly quickly by insulin, that sugar can get turned into fat.

So drinking coffee or highly caffeinated sodas can make you gain weight instead of helping you lose weight. That is why most diets don’t allow coffee or limit the amount of coffee that you can drink. And it doesn’t make a difference if the coffee is decaf. Decaf coffee has exactly the same effect on weight loss as regular coffee. So if you really want to start losing weight you should probably think about switching from coffee to tea. Some teas, like black teas, have a small amount of caffeine and can give you that jump start you need in the morning or that pick me up you love in the afternoon without having the harsh effects that coffee has. Tea also has other health benefits like being packed with antioxidants that can really help your immune system. If you have pre-diabetes or if you are at risk of developing diabetes you should definitely think about giving up coffee because of the effect that coffee can have on your blood sugar levels. It’s important to lose weight and regulate your blood sugar levels if you are diabetic of if you are at risk of becoming diabetic so if you think you’re at risk you should take the steps you need to take to give up coffee.

The best way to lose weight is by exercising, building muscles, running, or using any workout dvd such as the p90x workout or hip hop abs workout routine by Sean T.

by: UltimateFitnessGear