Green Coffee for weight loss
Coffee is one of the most cultivated crops on this earth. With around 50 million cups of coffee a year, it is one of the most popular drinks in our daily life, together with water and tea. We are therefore not surprised that, after petroleum, the coffee bean is the most traded product in the world. Coffee has a long history. Its invigorating effect was written about in 900 BC by the Arab doctor, Rhazes. But it is not until the 15th century that the Islamic culture of coffee drinking spread to the west through the Turks .
Green coffee for weight loss – the plant
The coffee plant is actually a tree that is pruned for commercial cultivation as a shrub of 2 to 3 metres high, which makes the harvesting process easier. The coffee shrub needs a constant temperature for optimal growth and you will find it mainly in countries around the tropics. The most famous coffees are Coffea Canephora Robusta and Coffea Arabica L.
The coffee beans sit as twins inside the berry, of which only 2.5 kg is harvested per bush. To get to that brown swollen coffee bean that every barista uses, the bean is removed from the berry and roasted at temperatures above 200°C. The heat converts free sugars, polysaccharides and proteins into delicious aromas. The taste and smell of coffee varies according to the species, environmental factors in cultivation and harvesting as well as roasting techniques. The heating also has an influence on the concentration of the bioactive components present in the coffee bean, as a result of which the beneficial properties are mainly attributed to the green unroasted coffee bean.
A commonly known asset of the coffee bean is caffeine. A molecule that is responsible for the bitter taste of coffee but also acts on our nervous system. Caffeine increases alertness and promotes performance (ergogenic effect).
A second important bioactive component in coffee beans are the polyphenols. Polyphenols are secondary plant metabolites with a proven effect on oxidative stress related diseases (including diabetes and heart disease). The most researched and abundant polyphenol in the green coffee bean is 5-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA).
Green coffee for weight loss – the science
Several studies show that this molecule has a positive influence on metabolic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis and insulin resistance. Fatty tissue in our body produces adiponectin that increases insulin sensitivity, glucose uptake and fatty acid oxidation. As a counteraction, the adipocytes (fat cells) also release the protein lectin.
Lectin is a hormone that communicates with our brains about our hunger. A study from 2016 shows that the 5-CQA, by responding to gene expression, causes a decrease in lectin and an increase in adiponectin production. This ensures an increase in fat burning and prevents the build-up of adipose tissue. Previously, 5-CQA was also associated with blood pressure lowering properties.
- B.K. Choi et al, “Green coffee bean extract improves obesity by decreasing body fat in high-fat diet induced obese mice”, Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2016 Jul;9(7):635-43
- A. Priftis et al, “Comparison of antioxidant activity between green and roasted coffee beans using molecular methods”, Molecular medicine reports 12:7293-7302,2015
- D. Martini et al, “Coffee consumption and oxidative stress: A review of Human Intervention studies”, Molecules 2016, 21, 979
- >A. Suzuki et al, “Green Coffee Bean Extract and its metabolites have a hypotensive Effect in spontaneously Hypertensive Rats”, Hypertens Res Vol.25, No1 (2002)
- Food-info.net
- http://coffee-genome.org/
- http://www.koffiecafe.be/