Brewed for Benefits: Coffee’s Impact on Fat and Muscle

In this episode of Daily Value, we look at how the roasting style of coffee—light versus regular—might influence body composition. Examining evidence from a recent randomized controlled trial published in Nutrients (PMID: 39275165). Could your choice of coffee enhance fat loss and muscle mass?

Discussion Points:

• Roasting and Polyphenols: How lightly roasted coffee, with higher chlorogenic acid content, outperformed regular roasts in reducing body fat (-1.4% vs. -1.0%) and increasing muscle mass (+0.8%).
• Mechanisms at Play: The role of chlorogenic acids and caffeine in body composition augmentation as outlined in mechanistic research.
• Practical Takeaways: Why choosing lightly roasted coffee and consuming it regularly may provide metabolic benefits over time (especially in sedentary/overweight populations).

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39275165/

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:01

Could the style of your coffee affect the amount of muscle and fat mass you carry? We have new data to suggest it might. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Daily Value. I'm William Wallace, and today we're yet again looking at a topic that connects one of the world's most beloved beverages, that being coffee, with its potential effects on our health. Now, whereas in the last couple of weeks we've discussed the impacts of genetics on coffee and coffee's effects on cardiometabolic outcomes, this week we're touching on something a bit different, specifically body composition, that being the possible effects that coffee has on fat and muscle mass.

Speaker 0: 0:39

Coffee is more than just a caffeine delivery system. In fact, its chemical composition is quite complex, as it contains over 1,000 different phytochemicals known as polyphenols, along with macro and micronutrients. Now, unsurprisingly, coffee is the most used source of these particular polyphenols in the United States and Europe, but coffee is also considered to be the primary source of dietary polyphenols in the US and Europe. When just looking at general polyphenol consumption, it's thought that coffee consumption accounts for 41% of total polyphenol intake in the United States and 36% of total polyphenol intake in Europe. One of the most prominent polyphenols in coffee is called hydroxycinnamic acid. This is one of the two major phenolic acids. Phenolic acids account for approximately 30% of all known polyphenols found in our diet. Now, from hydroxycinnamic acid, there is another major group of polyphenols formed, which again are abundant in coffee. This class of polyphenols is called chlorogenic acids and it includes compounds like ferulic acid, caffeic acid, turmeric acid and 3, 4, and 5 caffeine oil quinic acids. Other minor dietary sources of these compounds include potatoes, apples, pears and some teas. The compounds have been shown repeatedly in scientific literature to have lipid-lowering effects and antihypertensive effects, which seems counterintuitive given that we've all heard caffeine can cause high blood pressure. The kicker here is that, while non-habituated coffee drinkers may experience an acute rise in blood pressure after two weeks of regular coffee consumption, coffee does seem to have beneficial or neutral effects on blood pressure due to the polyphenol content of coffee.

Speaker 0: 2:33

More recently, chlorogenic acids have been molecules of particular interest because they may influence fat metabolism, muscle growth and overall body composition. But here's the catch the way coffee is roasted significantly affects its caffeine and polyphenol content. The roasting process of coffee can reduce the final polyphenol content anywhere from 40 to 80 percent of original content. You see, polyphenols like chlorogenic acids are heat sensitive In lighter roasts, shorter exposure mass during roasting, leading to a slightly higher caffeine concentration per unit of weight. So lighter roasts have higher polyphenol and caffeine content compared to darker roasts.

Speaker 0: 3:34

Now this recent information on chlorogenic acids possibly being beneficial for fat mass and body composition have led a group of researchers to ask does the choice between a light roast and a regular roast matter at all for our health? This particular study was a randomized, controlled, single-blind crossover trial and it was published in the journal Nutrients. It examined the effects of two different coffees on body composition in adults who were overweight or obese, so they had BMIs between 25 and 35, and they were aged between 18 and 65. There were two arms a lightly roasted coffee arm. This was high in polyphenols, particularly hydroxycinnamic acid, containing approximately 400 milligrams per cup, along with 130 milligrams of caffeine per cup. The other group consumed regular roasted coffee, which was lower in polyphenols, at approximately 150 milligrams per cup, with caffeine content around 70 milligrams per cup. Both groups consumed three 200 milliliter cups of coffee daily for 12 weeks, followed by a two-week washout period before switching coffee types. So they both completed both interventions.

Speaker 0: 4:50

The researchers evaluate changes in body composition at the body, fat and muscle mass and visceral fat using bioimpedance, along with metabolic markers like blood glucose, triglycerides and blood pressure. The findings were as follows. Both light roast and regular roast drinkers reduced body fat percentage, but light roast showed a greater reduction. It was about a 1.4% loss in fat mass for light roast versus a 1% loss for the regular roast. Muscle mass and muscle mass percentage increased modestly with both coffees. It went up nearly 1% in the light roast drinkers and increased by 0.7% in regular roast drinkers. No significant changes were observed in body weight or metabolic markers like fasting, glucose and blood pressure.

Speaker 0: 5:39

The study suggests that lightly roasted coffee may offer a slight edge over regular roasted coffee in improving body composition. The researchers of the study suggest that polyphenols, particularly chlorogenic acids, are mostly causal to these effects, and indeed the light roast drinkers consumed nearly three times the amount of chlorogenic acids that regular drinkers consumed. Past research in rodent's models has shown that coffee consumption has led to increased hypertrophy through increasing the DNA synthesis of satellite cells, which obviously participate in muscle regeneration. In the same study, coffee consumption decreased myostatin signaling, that's a protein that limits muscle growth. Chlorogenic acids also activate AMPK. That's a key enzyme that promotes fat oxidation and reduces fat storage. Now, although that is cited rodent data.

Speaker 0: 6:30

The mechanisms of coffee's actions may still be at play in humans here. It's just the extent to which these would affect meaningful outcomes which is still up for debate. It's worth noting that light roast coffee drinkers consumed almost twice as much caffeine, which by itself has been shown to improve body composition in the past. However, in this case, neither group had an increased activity or exercise as measured by accelerometry. The interplay between caffeine and polyphenols is worth noting. While caffeine provides a thermogenic boost and can enhance energy expenditure, polyphenols do appear to have a more direct effect on body fat and muscle tissue. This may explain why lightly roasted coffee, with its higher polyphenol content, demonstrated more pronounced effects in this case.

Speaker 0: 7:26

So how can you apply these findings to your life? Well, here are a few tips. Light roasts can help to maximize polyphenol intake. The study's participants consumed three cups daily over several weeks, highlighting the importance of regular intake. And according to the available scientific literature, three to four cups per day can provide health benefits for most people. But also keep in mind that how you metabolize caffeine matters here.

Speaker 0: 7:52

I did an episode on that just last week. Both the FDA and the European Food Safety Authority, known as EFSA, state that up to 400 mg of caffeine daily can be safe for a person weighing 70 kilos, which is approximately 154 pounds. Additionally, consuming coffee without sugar, milk or cream helps to maximize polyphenol intake without adding unnecessary calories to your day. This study offers exciting insights into the potential of coffee to support body composition goals. By focusing on lightly roasted coffee, you may not only enjoy a great cup, but also enhance your metabolic health over time. Remember that no single food or beverage can replace a well-rounded diet and active lifestyle. If you're curious about experimenting with lightly roasted coffee, this might just be the nudge that you need. Thank you for joining me today on Daily Value. If you found this episode insightful, please share it with someone who loves their morning cup or cups of coffee. Don't forget to subscribe for more insights. Until next time, stay sharp, stay informed as always, stay healthy.