Coffee Might Help With Weight Loss, Research Shows

New research from a Queensland university says coffee just might be able to assist with weight loss and I have to say, you love to see it. Let us explain.

A new study conducted by the University of Southern Queensland has found used coffee grains could be a useful aid in weight loss and may provide a number of other important health benefits.

Using male rats, it supplied the animals with a high-carb, high-fat diet over four months with five per cent of it being made up of used coffee ground.

The results indicated the coffee, which we would normally throw out, might be helpful in developing gut microbiota that aids in weight reduction and improvements in glucose tolerance and systolic blood pressure.

“We found those on the high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet developed metabolic syndrome including abdominal obesity, impaired glucose tolerance and cardiovascular and liver damage,” lead researcher Professor Lindsay Brown said in a media release.

“When spent coffee grounds were introduced to their diet however, we saw that body weight, abdominal fat, total body fat mass, systolic blood pressure were reduced along with improved glucose tolerance and structure and function of the heart and liver.

“We also noted changes in gut microbiota that correlated with the reduction in obesity and improvement in glucose tolerance and systolic blood pressure.”

For non-scientists, it means those used coffee grinds that are carelessly thrown into waste could potentially provide our bodies with a whole host of health properties. The one at the centre is, of course, weight loss.

How can I prepare coffee to help with weight loss?

If you’re buying coffees from your local barista, you’re not likely to have too much used ground coffee at home. If you do have your own coffee machine though, it’s extremely easy to try out yourself.

Professor Brown recommends getting the otherwise discarded coffee grounds and drying it in an oven at 60 degrees Celsius for around two hours. Once that’s done, you can add that prepared coffee to your baking efforts in a muffin or bread mix.

“It’s not something that you’re going to notice an overnight change by doing, however, it’s likely to decrease obesity and improve your blood pressure too. Aside from the potential health benefits though, it’s great to have found value in food waste,” Professor Brown said.

Diet hacks never replace making healthy lifestyle choices in the first place so if getting healthy is something you’re serious about, it’s important to cut out harmful food or drink choices and make changes to your levels of activity.

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