Srinagar, Aug 20: Regular coffee consumption was associated with lower body fat, greater muscle mass and differences in sex hormone levels in a Finnish study, suggesting that coffee may have effects on metabolism beyond its well-known ability to increase alertness.
Researchers at the University of Oulu examined data from 2,264 people aged 46 who were part of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. They looked at participants’ usual coffee intake and compared it with measures of body composition, metabolic health, circulating metabolites and sex hormones.
People who reported drinking more coffee generally had less total body fat and visceral fat, while also having greater skeletal muscle mass. Notably, these differences were observed even though participants with different levels of coffee consumption had similar body mass indexes.
Higher coffee intake was also linked to lower concentrations of branched-chain amino acids in both men and women. Persistently elevated levels of these amino acids have previously been associated with insulin resistance and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
