Can I drink coffee if I'm trying to lose weight?

You can certainly drink coffee if you're trying to lose weight, but there are some key tips to keep in mind before you brew. Dietitian Ashley Koff, RD, explains the healthy benefits of drinking limited amounts of coffee at the right time of day.

Transcript

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ASHLEY KOFF: I can't count the number of patients that have come into my office, sat down, told me all the reasons that they want to lose weight and then look me directly in the eye

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and say, "If you take away my coffee, I'm leaving." [MUSIC PLAYING] So here's the thing--

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you can absolutely drink coffee and have it be part of a healthy weight loss program.

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Now, I'm going to say that we can. There are some people that shouldn't. For example, if you're somebody who's really prone to anxiety

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and you find that coffee exacerbates that. Or let's say you have digestive issues, in particular, acid reflux, or maybe a particular heart condition, you probably

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shouldn't have coffee. So if that's been recommended to you, you have to stop there. However, for the rest of us, coffee can definitely

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be part of weight loss. In fact, I actually will have my coffee before I work out. It actually helps my body with that metabolic boost

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and that energy boost to get my workout done and studies have shown it may also help us with burning fat. But notice I'm talking about coffee in the singular.

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You can't have high amounts of coffee all day long. You can't replace coffee thinking that it gives you energy.

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Calories actually give you energy. So coffee is going to be a stimulant, but then you want to have actual food to give you lasting energy.

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And what you don't want to do is you don't want to have coffee going into the afternoon, and especially into the evening, because it can really upset your sleep cycle.

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And one thing we know is no weight loss program is effective if we're not getting good quality sleep and enough sleep.

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So here's the thing when it comes to coffee-- pare it down, try to have your coffee before a workout. Maybe reduce it to one cup and then have

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something like green tea, which also gives those fat burning benefits. And then the other big one it's what you do to your coffee.

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Please do not confuse coffee with some of these drinks that happen to have a little bit of coffee in them. If there's a ton of sugar, a ton of fat,

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a ton of artificial ingredients in there, it is no different than a candy bar, than a cookie, than a bad for you salad--

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yes, there are bad for you salads. So what you really want to think about when it comes to your coffee is keep it simple and do less of it, but enjoy it.