You may have heard of green coffee bean extract for weight loss, but this potent natural remedy offers other important benefits, too. Read on to discover how green coffee bean extract can help you lose weight and protect you from chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
What is green coffee bean extract?
While most of us are intimately familiar with coffee beans in their roasted form, the green beans are simply the seeds removed from the bright red berries and used in the raw form. To create the extract, the seeds are soaked and then made into an extract through boiling and straining.
The extract is often dried and made into a powder or sold in capsule form.
Green coffee bean extract for weight loss
Although there is not much scientific evidence, many anecdotal sources tout green coffee bean extract as a weight loss supplement. This may be thanks to the properties of one of the active ingredients, chlorogenic acid. This acid, which is much higher in green unroasted coffee beans, is believed to prevent fat storage and assist weight loss.
In addition, the caffeine content in the green coffee bean extract may help with weight loss. Caffeine is believed to increase metabolic processes by three to 11 percent, which means we can burn more energy and prevent the storage of fat. Another way the extract could help weight loss is by improving the function of a hormone called adiponectin, which is connected to the process of burning fat as energy.
Most sources suggest a dosage of about 400 milligrams taken three times daily. The best products contain at least 45 percent chlorogenic acid.
Heart disease protection from green coffee bean extract
One of the main benefits of green coffee bean extract is its ability to lower blood pressure. Studies have indicated that the chlorogenic acid content of the extract is able to lower blood pressure by as much as 10 points.
Along with a reduction in blood pressure, green coffee bean extract is believed to ease hypertension and decrease levels of an inflammatory marker called homocysteine. Both of these factors are considered to be strong protectors against heart disease.
Green coffee bean extract and blood sugar
Another way that green coffee bean extract improves weight loss and overall health is by stabilizing blood sugar. Again, thanks to chlorogenic acid, the extract can lessen the absorption of carbohydrates during digestion, and therefore keep blood sugar levels from spiking.
Other benefits of green coffee bean extract
The major additional health benefit of green coffee bean extract is its antioxidant capacity. This means that it protects cells and tissues from damage by free radicals and prevents the breakdown that results in aging and disease.
Many people also enjoy the fact that green coffee bean extract does not have the typical coffee flavor. This allows those who are not lovers of coffee to enjoy its antioxidant benefits without the distinctive bitter flavor of roasted coffee beans.
Safety concerns with green coffee bean extract
Although green coffee bean extract is considered to be quite safe, there are concerns around the effects of caffeine. Since the natural supplement market doesn’t have much standardization, some brands of green coffee bean extract could contain more caffeine than others.
Many people suffer from symptoms such as anxiety, tension and a racing heart from consuming too much caffeine. On the flip side, there can also be withdrawal symptoms when consumption is stopped. These can include headache, fatigue or trouble concentrating.
There is also a risk of allergic reaction, but those who have issues with green coffee beans would likely already have discovered this allergy through contact with coffee in its regular roasted form.
In the end, we recommend exercising caution with the use of this supplement. If you know that you are not sensitive to caffeine, the benefits of green coffee bean extract could be considerable, while others should keep consumption to a minimum.
Have you tried green coffee bean extract? Do you think the potential risks are worth it for the possible benefits?
—Liivi Hess
Liivi is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and is training to become a doula. She inspires women to find peace and personal power by taking control of health and fertility naturally. Liivi‘s passion is ancestral nutrition and primal lifestyle design. She and her partner Will live between Toronto, Canada and Queenstown, New Zealand.
Sources:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/6/9?fmt_math=yes&fmt_math_check=on
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10641960600798655
http://www.nature.com/hr/journal/v28/n9/abs/hr200591a.html
http://jlc.jst.go.jp/JST.JSTAGE/hypres/27.731?from=Google
