Weight Loss: Four Cups of This Beverage Can Help You Reduce Fat Quickly

KEY POINTS

>160 million Americans are either overweight or obese

Study: Rats that consumed caffeine extracts gained 16% lesser weight 

Mate tea & caffeine can be considered anti-obesity agents  

Are you one of those individuals who cannot make it through the day without more than a couple of coffee? A new study suggests that extra caffeine intake could aid weight loss.

Researchers from the University of Illinois who sought to analyze the impact of caffeine on rat models have found that consuming around four cups of coffee per day can result in weight reduction.

The study was conducted on rat models for a period of four weeks where they were given caffeine extracted from mate tea. The rats were made to follow a diet containing 40% fat, 45% carbohydrates and 15% protein and were also given caffeine equivalents to four cups of coffee.

Mate tea is a herbal beverage enriched with phytochemicals, flavonoids, and amino acids. The beverage is widely consumed as stimulants among people in the Latin American countries. One serving of mate tea contains about 65-130 mg compared to 30-300 mg of caffeine contained in a cup of brewed coffee.

The findings reported that caffeine might also delay certain negative effects of an obesity-causing diet by reducing lipid storage in fat cells and limiting weight gain alongside triglyceride production.

Also, the lean body mass percentage in the various groups of rats was found to be differing significantly. Those ingested with caffeine from mate tea or synthetic sources of caffeine were found to have accumulated lesser body fat compared to rats in the other groups.

The findings add to the growing body of evidence that mate tea might help combat obesity alongside providing several other health benefits.

"Considering the findings, mate tea and caffeine can be considered anti-obesity agents," Masslive quoted the study's author Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, director of the division of nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois. "The results of this research could be scaled to humans to understand the roles of mate tea and caffeine as potential strategies to prevent overweight and obesity, as well as the subsequent metabolic disorders associated with these conditions."

The researchers also tracked the expression of several genes associated with lipid metabolism and obesity which included the fatty acid synthase gene and lipoprotein gene.

Coffee trade prices account for only 10 percent of the price for a brew in the coffee shop Photo: AFP / CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN