Is it true that coffee burns fat?

Factual Questions
1

A friend of mine and I are arguing about the calorie burning qualities of coffee. I tried the internet but I couldn’t find any satisfactory answer so I’m turning to you people:

What I heared is that if you drink coffee before an aerobic exercise, you will start to burn fat 20 minutes earlier than if you don’t. What he says is that if you drink coffee and just sit down and watch TV, you’ll burn fat and that you could lose weight by drinking coffee when you’re thirsty instead of water or juice.

Does it make any sense (We’re talking about black coffee, no milk no sugar)?

2

To the best of my knowledge, caffeine boosts your metabolism, so you’ll burn more calories no matter what you’re doing. However, it’s highly unlikely that you’d be able to lose weight just by drinking coffee and making no other lifestyle changes. After all, there are plenty of fat coffee drinkers.

3

So would you say that all other variables remaining the same, the coffee drinker will be slimmer?

What I mean is, doesn’t the coffee have more calories than what you lose when your metabolism goes up so isn’t the net effect of actually gaining weight?

4

So would you say that all other variables remaining the same, the coffee drinker will be slimmer?

What I mean is, doesn’t the coffee have more calories than what you lose when your metabolism goes up so isn’t the net effect of actually gaining weight?

5

Coffee doesn’t have any calories if you don’t add milk and/sugar. So, the answer would be yes.

All things being completely equals (which about never happens in real life), the black coffee drinker should be a bit thinner.

6

I drink coffee with milk, but no sugar.

7

I assume if you sit down after a coffee you are more likely to fidget and thus loose more calories than a non-coffee drinker.

Fidgeting is a suprising sink of calories.
http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/hmed/990108_fgt.html

Then, maybe if you were addicted you would fidget more without the coffee.

8

I assume if you sit down after a coffee you are more likely to fidget and thus loose more calories than a non-coffee drinker.

Fidgeting is a suprising sink of calories.
http://www.biomed.lib.umn.edu/hmed/990108_fgt.html

Then, maybe if you were addicted you would fidget more without the coffee.

9

Doesn’t drinking any hot liquid, especially with milk in, burn lots of calories by being digested?

So we’ve got the metabolism increasment (word?) of the caffeine, the calorie burning by the digestive system, and the calorie burning by fidgeting.

coffee for me thanks.

10

Seems unlikely. Got a cite?

11

I think it is cold liquids that burn calories. (probably very little though)

Caffine does burn calories by boosting your metabolism. As Ultrafilter said. Most coffee drinkers put cream and sugar in, which probably does nullifies the effect. Tea with no sugar works, and some teas taste good even without sweetener.

12

Don’t forget to factor in all the calories you lose while walking to and from the restroom :slight_smile:

13

antechinus: what exactly is “to fidget”? I followed your link but it wasn’t very satisfying.

14

If you spill it in your lap, it’ll burn a lot more than just fat.

15

If it’s the caffeine in the coffee that raises your metabolism, presumably you could get the same effect from drinking diet coke?

16

DrLiver, fidgeting is… well, jiggling around in your seat, twiddling your thumbs, tapping your feet - generally any kind of restless activity or wrigglebottomry.

Don’t you do that in Canada?

17

But why would coffee have that affect?

18

I think it’s just the caffeine that does it. caffeine is a big item in weight training right now for people looking for that little drug induced edge. It also is a appetite suppresant.

Many OTC diet drugs work simularrly to caffeine by raising the metoblism and causing the usuall caffeine side effects.

19

Aye, Xenedrine and Hydroxycut are two brand names of natural metabolism boosters. I am cutting right now and am currently using Xenedrine. These contain Ephedrine alkaloids which are probably not very good for you. A lady at my last job had her heart stop because she took too many of these, drank too much Mountain Dew and didn’t eat anything all day. (At least that is what she said the doctor told her that is what probably caused it)
Thankfully she was standing next to the ONLY guy in the warehouse that new CPR when it happened.

20

It seems the common thought in this thread is that anything that stimulates you will cause you to burn extra calories and, if everything else is the same, loose weight. It seems to me that people who smoke and drink coffee (double Whammy) tend to be thinner on the average. But that is just my observation.