In prior studies, coffee consumption has been linked to increased cognition and a lower risk of metabolic syndrome. Now, in a new study, a research team found that it could be also correlated with lower body fat in women.
The study, publicized in the Journal of Nutrition, analyzed the data of women, aged 20-69, from the CDC’s US-based National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
According to researchers from Anglia Ruskin University, the primary objective was to “examine the relation between coffee consumption and DXA-assessed adiposity and adiposity distribution.”
DXA is commonly used to test body fat, muscle mass, and distribution in the human body, in what is referred to as a DEXA scan.
Among the participants, coffee consumption was measured based on the number of cups of either caffeinated or decaffeinated drinks. The DEXA scans were utilized to assess total fat percentage and trunk fat.
Based on their findings, women in early and mid-adulthood who consumed at least two cups of coffee each day exhibited the lowest levels of adiposity. For women in mid to late-adulthood, the consumption of at least four cups per day led to a 4.1 percent lower rate of adiposity.
As a whole, the research team found a 2.8 percent lower total body fat percentage among women of any age group after consuming just two cups, at a minimum, per day.
“Higher coffee consumption was associated with significantly lower total body fat percentage and trunk body fat percentage in a dose-response manner among women,” the findings state.
“The present study found a significant association between higher coffee consumption and lower DXA-measured adiposity. Moreover, a gender difference in this association in the general US adult population was also observed,” the research team concluded.
