WALES ONLINE – British researchers found women aged 20 to 44 who drank two or three cups per day had the lowest levels of belly fat, 3.4 per cent lower than non-coffee drinkers.
And it was 4.1 per cent lower in women aged 45 to 69 who drank four or more cups daily.
The findings were consistent regardless of whether the coffee was caffeinated or not.
And it also didn’t matter whether women suffered from chronic disease or smoked – the results were still the same.
“Our research suggests that there may be bioactive compounds in coffee other than caffeine that regulate weight and which could potentially be used as anti-obesity compounds.
Coffee appears to have a positive effect on men, but the relationship was less significant.
Men aged 20 to 44 who drank two or more cups per day had 1.3 per cent less total body fat and 1.8 per cent less trunk fat than non-coffee drinkers.
The findings, based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey organised by the Centre for Disease Control in the US, were published in The Journal of Nutrition.
