A good cup of coffee can lift your mood and turn your whole day around. But coffee is not just beneficial to your mental well-being. In fact, drinking coffee in moderation offers several benefits to your physical health as well. Let's take a look at how a cup of fresh black coffee could be helping your body.
Coffee can Boost Metabolism and Help Burn Fat
There's a reason that caffeine is found in nearly every commercial, fat-burning supplement. According to several studies, there is evidence that caffeine can boost your metabolic rate by 3 to 11%. Meanwhile, other studies suggest that caffeine can increase fat-burning by as much as 10% in obese individuals—and 29% in the non-obese.
Of course, there's no substitute for regular exercise and a healthy diet. But it's nice to know that drinking coffee can stimulate your metabolism to work with other healthy choices
Coffee Contains Many Key Nutrients
Even after brewing, coffee boasts some important nutrients that your body needs for everyday functioning.
A single cup of coffee contains:
-
Riboflavin (vitamin B2): 11% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI).
-
Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5): 6% of the RDI.
-
Manganese and potassium: 3% of the RDI.
-
Magnesium and niacin (vitamin B3): 2% of the RDI.
Coffee can Lower the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes in its various forms is one of the most widespread diseases in the United States. Type-2 diabetes is caused by a resistance to or a reduced ability to secrete insulin, which results in elevated blood sugar levels.
But studies show that the most frequent coffee drinkers actually have a 23-50% lower risk of getting type-2 diabetes. Scientists don't yet understand why this is, but it's hard to ignore the correlation.
Coffee Could Protect Your Liver
Several liver illnesses, like hepatitis and fatty liver disease, can result in cirrhosis, a condition in which the liver is largely replaced by scar tissue.
But according to a handful of studies, coffee just may protect against cirrhosis. People who drink 4 or more cups a day appear to be as much as 80% less likely to develop the condition.
Coffee is the Leading Source of Antioxidants in Most Western Diets
The human body contains compounds known as free radicals, which can cause several illnesses – diabetes, heart disease, and cancer – if their levels become too high. As a natural defense, your body produces antioxidants—molecules that regulate free radicals.
But we also get antioxidants (and in turn, heightened immunity) from the foods and beverages we consume. Fruits and vegetables, for instance, are key sources of antioxidants. But it may surprise you to learn that coffee is the number-one source of antioxidants for most people who eat a so-called traditional western diet. And to supercharge this feature of coffee, add a dash of cinnamon, another antioxidant.
Convinced? Check out our online store, and order a bag of San Francisco Coffee! Or come into one of our shops and buy a cup of freshly brewed coffee today. Your body will thank you later.
- Doug
