coffee and belly fat--what do you think?

[Stephen1227]

I am a coffee drinker--between 16 and 32oz per day.  I also have a stubborn belly fat that is out of proportion. I have read about a connection between coffee and belly fat (including just this evening), and how it releases more cortisol (stress hormone) and causes more fat to be deposited in the belly area.  Of course, there are health benefits to coffee as well as the pure pleasure of it (if you like it, that is).  Anyway, I am not convinced about the connection, but there seems to be some good research that connects coffee to belly fat.  I would love to hear what others think.  Thanks! 

[lyro]

Well, this is nothing scientific, just my own experience.  I gave up coffee about 2 1/2 years ago only because I had lost my taste for it after I had started a new medication.  Mind you, I still love the aroma of coffee, just don't want to drink it.  Anyway, I still have the same stubborn belly fat I had prior to giving up the coffee.  So in my case, I see no difference with or without the coffee.  I am just hoping that with the fitbit, I can finally get rid of this issue.  It has been quite a challenge because weight issues were new to me since I never had this issue when I was younger.  

[Use2bacutie]

In my case, I started drinking coffee this year and I have noticed I have gain weight around my waist area.

[Algenon]

I have not noticed any difference when I drank coffee and I didn't drink coffee.....It might depend on what you put in it.  I use non-dairy creamer and no sugar.  I know lattes are very high in fat content.  

[fccsret]

I haven't noticed any connection.  When I was in the Navy I would drink coffee (black) around the clock.  I retired in 2011 after 24 years but continued to drink nothing but coffee (no water, an occasional soda) and didn't notice any weight gain.  I quit smoking 17 months ago and that's when the weight piled on.  I gave up coffee for several months because that was one of the big triggers for me.  Now I drink 1 cup of coffee in the morning and water the rest of the day (no soda).  I am fighting to get rid of the my gut (the largest it has ever been and I am at my highest weight).

[MonaLS]

I love coffee but can't drink it anymore. Still have my stubborn belly fat.

[cammy_c]

Research also says that caffeine increases the metabolism, therefore fat burn. 
I drink coffee all the time and have a flat stomach, so you have nothing to worry about. I would actually RECOMMEND it for weight loss.

[Stephen1227]

Thank you!

[Malpeg]

If a little extra belly fat is the price I have to pay for coffee, so be it.  Besides the fact that I like coffee. It has a positive affect on my risk of fatal prostate cancer: http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/news/20110517/coffee-may-lower-prostate-cancer-risk

[SunsetRunner]

Doing Yoga since a week now on my own with a awesome app which shows whole training sessions by video to follow, there are several programs to follow which each take a few weeks to complete or can be done faster if wanted..

When searching, multiple websites suggested to drink coffee prior to workout, wait a half hour, and it stimulates to burn more fat when training than not drinking coffee.

I drink black coffee which has almost no calories at all (coffee powder with boiled water added and a bit of milk). Of course eating cookies, adding sugar, ice cream, whipped cream.. to the coffee would take away the effect and add alot of calories, fat,..

[prettyjm04]

I still drink coffee but its not the regular coffee anymore.Its an Italian slimroast coffee and it helps me flattened my belly,started drink it for less than a week and lose 3lbs.If intersted to try this coffee let me know i can give free samples.

[prettyjm04]

Try the Italian slimroast coffee,when i started this coffee i havent taken my reflux medication.Anybody wants to try it.I can give free samples.

[emili]

I drink lots of coffee too and it makes no difference in weight or body proportions. Everything I have read points to what goes in coffee as the reason for added calories not the coffee itself. I say, drink up if you enjoy it! cheers!

[fitmissjen]

@Algenon has the same idea as me.

Maybe its not the coffee itself, but the additives that go with it. Sugar, dairy etc

I'm not a coffee drinker, but i LOVE green tea!

[Tave]

@Stephen1227 what you mention is interesting, as I always heard the opposite: that coffee and the caffeine doses would aide in helping get rid of fat from tough areas (of course with proper nutrition and exercise).  I am in general skeptical though about saying that relationships like that are causal.  

[prettyjm04]

Try our Italian slim roast coffee less than 2 weeks I lose 8.2 lbs.I started Fitbit with 122.9 on March found out I was pregnant and lost the baby July.i gained 127 took me months to moved on.i started walking I think End of Oct.in lose 12lbs but after that I can't loss anymore I didn't gained but I can't loss until I started this coffee less than 2 weeks I loss I weighed myself today I m down to 106.8..

[GuinnessLover]

I think the idea that coffee would cause you to gain fat in your belly specifically is a little... lets say questionable.

We're all born with a finite number of fat cells distributed around our body, and we're all different, both in terms of how many we have and where they are.  When we gain weight those fat cells grow, and when we lose weight they shrink.  In general if someone has, say an extra 15 pounds on them, a man is going to TEND to carry that in his gut, whereas a woman is going to TEND to carry it in her hips, ass and thighs.  Think about it, we've all seen extreme examples of this on the street.  People who's upper body is slim but lower is... not.  Or vice versa.

I am 6' 168# and have very little fat on me, but what I do have is pretty exclusively in my belly.  

My point is, the hard truth is probably that your body puts any extra in your belly and to decrease it you're just going to have to lose in general.  

[AtkPilot34]

Thank you. That is a well balanced response to a odd question.

[RexFeral]

Interesting post. I had never heard of this study before. I also find the connection they are trying to make a bit strange but it could be plausible.

In my opinion coffee can be extremely fattening. Mostly because the people who say they love coffee, actually love what they are putting into the coffee instead. Most people do not drink, plain coffee for the taste of it. They go to these over priced "coffee" cafes which are really nothing more than candy stores. They sell more sugar than they do coffee in there.

So yes, I can imagine someone who drinks a latte a day developing weight circumference considering that this is what sugar causes, visceral fat. I mean, imagine, the contents in it. Milk (lactose), loads of sugar (glucose/fructose) and then to add injury to insult, they squeeze "caramel" into it and other syrups which are mostly hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup (more sugar). That right there is a recipe for disaster. And if the study is correct about the cortisol, then you can add that on top of everything else. Basically it's a sugar bomb exploding inside you. Obesity is next.

You would need to jog three days straight just to burn it and in the meantime, you're passing by the coffee house daily and doing it all over again before the first one finished metabolizing. Its crazy.

That's why I drink my organic coffee at home. Plain, with only two tablespoons of grass fed, heavy, whipping cream. Nothing else. I've been losing inches off my waist monthly so at least, in my case, coffee itself is not the culprit.

[Duane731]

2 cups of coffee has 2 calories in it.  3 tablespoons of creamer (coffee mate) has 105.  The coffee can't add belly fat with only 2 calories.  If it releases cortisol, that might be an overall stress issue aggrivated by coffee and the get started fast / quick paced lifestyle of many drinkers (I drink my coffee when I arrive at work and that is always the busiest and most hectic time, for example).  The creamer and any sugar are the culprits of belly fat.  Those numbers can add up quickly, especially if you like a sweeter coffee.

All of that is for a regular home brewed coffee.  If you are getting the four dollar lattes or cappucinos the flavor syrup they add is almost entirely sugar.  So many calories are in those, they are hardly worth it in my opinion.