Does coffee aid in avoiding weight gain Here’s the evidence
Coffee is recognized as having a positive effect on the long-term health. Consuming the equivalent of about three or four cups of instant coffee each every day lowers the chance of a variety of health issues like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.
A majority of people tend to gain little weight every year as they grow older. But does coffee really help to prevent the gradual gain of weight?
Researchers examined whether drinking an extra cup of coffee every day or adding cream, sugar, or an alternative that isn’t dairy resulted in greater or lesser weight gain over those who didn’t alter their diet.
Their study (currently in the process of being a pre-proof that is, it has been reviewed by a peer, but has still awaiting editing and formatting process) found a slight link between coffee and less weight than was expected.
The people who consumed more coffee daily gained 0.12 kilograms less than they expected to gain over the course of four years. The addition of sugar led to just a little larger (0.09 kilograms) increase in body weight than anticipated over the course of four years.
Read more: Health Check: four reasons to have another cup of coffee
How was the study conducted? What did it find?
Researchers have merged the data of three large studies conducted in three large studies from the United States: two Nurses’ Health Research studies between 1986 and 2010 and also from 1991 until 2015 and the Study of Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study between 1991 and 2014.
These Nurses’ Health Studies are two of the biggest cohort studies that have more than 230,000 participants. It also studies female health risks associated with chronic diseases. This Health Professional Follow-Up Study includes more than 50 000 male health professionals. It studies the relationship between food choices and health outcomes.
The participants in all three studies took an initial questionnaire and a second survey every 4 years to evaluate their consumption of food and drinks. With the help of the three datasets, researchers analyzed changes in the amount of coffee consumed as well as changes in weight of the participants’ self-reported at four-year intervals.
The study examined the relationship between coffee consumption and weight. Unsplash/Annie Spratt
The weight gain averages over the course of four years for nurses study included 1.2kg and 1.7kg and 1.7kg, while those who participated in the study of health professionals added the average 0.8kg.
The researchers discovered that a rise in unsweetened caffeinated or decaffeinated consumption of one cup per day was associated with weight gain of 0.12 kg less than what was expected over the course of four years.
In addition, adding the creamer (milk) or an alternative that is not dairy-free was not a significant factor in the weight gain.
However the addition of the sugar (one teaspoon) to coffee was linked with weight gain that was 0.09 kg more than what was expected over a period of four years.
The associations were more pronounced for those who were older and had a lower BMI at the time of the beginning of the study.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this study?
This study is distinctive because of two reasons. It has a huge sample size and tracked participants for a long time. This gives assurance that the connections are real and will likely be used to apply to other populations.
But there is a reason to remain wary.
First, the results show evidence of a relationship and not causality. The study, therefore, doesn’t prove that the consumption of coffee is the primary reason for the weight gain. It rather shows that both changes were observed in tandem throughout the course of.
