The headline read: "Coffee found to cause insulin resistance".
There doesn’t seem to be as much controversy in any other area of life as there is in the health and nutrition realm.
True to form, a recent study leaves folks scratching their heads about coffee.
This ever-popular beverage once vilified for raising blood pressure has had some very positive press in recent years. In fact, the benefits of drinking coffee range from decreasing risk of type-2 diabetes and depression to improving glucose metabolism and enhancing fat loss.
So what is all the kerfuffle about?
A recent study published in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry investigated the effects of chlorogenic acid consumption on mice (component found in coffee). Investigators administered 1g of cholorogenic acid (CGA) per kg of food to the mice and observed its effects on weight gain, glucose tolerance, insulin signaling, adipose tissue, and fatty acid oxidation.
The 12-week study showed that the co-ingestion of a high fat diet and CGA increased body weight more than consuming a high fat diet alone. This high fat, CGA diet also resulted in higher fasting insulin levels.
So here come the headlines: "Coffee found to cause insulin resistance"
The good news is I read more than the first few sentences of a study, you shoud too before you draw broad conclusions.
Yes, coffee does contain CGA but depending on the processing of the coffee beans themselves, the concentration of CGA present may vary.
An avid coffee drinker may take in 1 gram of CGA daily. The mice in this study were fed 1g CGA per kg of diet. You do the math. For me that would be over 2 grams a day, every day, for 12 weeks. But wait there is more.
Yes, coffee contains CGA, but that is not all it contains. It contains a whole host of other polyphenols. Together they improve insulin sensitivity, suppress body fat accumulation, reduce liver damage, and lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
You cannot, in any way, conclude from this study that drinking coffee will result in weight gain, higher fasting insulin levels, and hyperlipidemia. The only thing that we can definitively conclude form this study, is that feeding mice CGA 1g/kg of diet every day for 12 weeks will result in these things, so drink up!
Dr Paul Cribb is an award-winning scientist, author, and the creator of mp-body.com – the first ever science-based, research-proven, nationally accredited body transformation program. Learn more here