A recent publication in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that coffee, so beloved by many, can help in the process of losing weight, but in order for it to have an effect, one condition must be met.
As part of their research work, the purpose of which was to trace the connection between coffee consumption, weight changes and the addition of sugar and cream to the drink, experts from the United States studied data from more than 150 thousand participants in group studies.
After analyzing the habits of the subjects, experts found that every cup of coffee without sugar contributed to weight loss, and adding cream had almost no effect on weight change. At the same time, as the researchers noted, adding even one spoon of sugar was associated with subsequent weight gain. This association was stronger for younger people with higher body mass index.
The scientists’ findings state that drinking coffee without sugar is inversely proportional to weight gain, and adding sugar to the drink eliminates all the benefits of drinking it for weight control.
- Study details
Changes in Coffee Intake, Added Sugar and Long-Term Weight Gain – Results from Three Large Prospective US Cohort Studies
Background
Consumption of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee has been reported to attenuate long-term weight gain. Whether the association between coffee consumption and weight gain depends on the addition of sugar, cream or coffee whitener remains unclear.
Objective
We aimed to study the associations between changes in coffee consumption, caffeine intake and weight changes by considering the addition of sugar, cream or a non-dairy coffee whitener.
Methods
We used three large prospective cohorts – the Nurses’ Health Study (1986 – 2010), Nurses’ Health Study II (1991 – 2015) and Health Professional Follow-up Study (1991 – 2014). We applied multivariable linear regression models with robust variance estimators to assess the association of changes in coffee habits within each 4-year interval with concurrent weight changes. Results across the three cohorts were pooled using inverse-variance weights.
Results
After multivariable adjustment, each 1 cup per day increment in unsweetened caffeinated coffee was associated with a reduction in 4-year weight gain of -0.12 kg (95 % CI: -0.18, -0.05 kg) and of -0.12 kg (95 % CI: -0.16, -0.08 kg) for unsweetened decaffeinated coffee. The habits of adding cream or non-dairy coffee whitener were not significantly linked to weight changes. Adding a teaspoon of sugar was associated with a 4-year weight gain of +0.09 kg (0.07, 0.12 kg). Stratified analyses suggested stronger magnitude of the observed associations with younger age and higher baseline body mass index (BMI). Neither caffeine nor coffee modified the association of adding sugar to any food or beverage with weight changes.
Conclusions
An increase in intake of unsweetened caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee was inversely associated with weight gain. The addition of sugar to coffee counteracted coffee’s benefit for possible weight management. On the other hand, adding cream or coffee whitener were not associated with greater weight gain.