Health

How you brew your coffee could impact your weight, study says

By Mallika Marshall, MD

October 3, 2024 / 5:47 PM EDT / CBS Boston

Could the way you brew coffee affect your weight?

BOSTON - New research shows that how you brew your coffee might have an impact on your weight.

Cafestol is a molecule found in coffee and the levels depend on how the coffee is brewed. French press, espresso, and boiled coffee, like Turkish and Scandinavian varieties, contain the most while instant and filtered coffee have very little.

In a small clinical trial, Danish scientists found that participants who consumed six milligrams of the compound twice a day for 12 weeks experienced a slight reduction in weight and body fat. This early research is not enough to determine whether this coffee compound can really help people lose weight and shed fat but gives scientists another avenue to pursue in the quest to reduce the risk of obesity and its complications such as type 2 diabetes.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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