The coffee lover’s diet

A new study says coffee makes you live longer — but could it also help you drop a dress size?

Coffee is the new red wine. There are now tasting courses, sommeliers, and aficionados tracking single-origin beans from remote estates around the globe. Coffee contains 1,200 flavour compounds to red wine’s 700. Amazing. But did you know that it is also the latest weapon in weight loss?

I’m a medical doctor and, as the author of more than a dozen books on nutrition, I’m always on the lookout for the next great food story. for years we were told that coffee was bad for you. But early studies weren’t sophisticated enough and now we’re told the reverse.

A major study published last week by the International Agency for Research on Cancer at Imperial College London suggests drinking three cups of coffee a day cuts the risk of dying from a host of causes, including heart disease and stroke, by an astonishing 18 per cent.

It’s revolutionary stuff, and follows other studies showing similar results, including that coffee may also have a protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease and even some cancers. Could coffee be the superfood of all superfoods?

In my opinion, the new research leaves no room for doubt: drinking coffee can be the healthiest indulgence of your day. And it may make you slimmer, too.

Read on to find out how the coffee diet can help you lose weight, get fit and have more energy than ever.

THE DIET

IT AMAzes me that for decades we overlooked coffee — the world’s most popular beverage after water — as a weight-loss wonder. here are just some of the ways in which this great-tasting drink, which contains only two calories a cup, can be every dieter’s best friend . . .

COFFEE INCREASES YOUR METABOLIC RATE

If yoU feel like your engine’s running a little faster when you’ve had a caffeinated beverage, that’s because it actually is.

Caffeine increases the body’s metabolic rate, so it burns more calories even when you’re idle. depending on the amount of caffeine in your coffee, drinking one to three cups may increase your metabolism so that you burn an extra 75 to 100 calories a day.

If you replace a fat-laden snack with a coffee, you’re creating a calorie deficit. swap a 400-calorie doughnut for a black coffee, for example, and you will be 500 calories ahead for the day.

IT HELPS YOU BURN FAT WHILE YOU EXERCISE . . .

CAffeINe frees up fatty acids so you can use them as a fuel.

This fat-burning mechanism — taking fatty acids right out of your fat stores and burning them immediately — has a profound effect on weight loss. Burning free fatty acids instead of sugar allows anyone to remove fat stores more easily during exercise.

. . . AND DECREASES THE PRODUCTION OF NEW FAT

A sTUdy published in 2010 in the American Journal of Physiology found that chemical compounds in coffee known as phenols increased energy expenditure and decreased the production of new fat, successfully countering obesity.

Phenols are one of coffee’s bestkept secrets, the same compounds that make fresh fruits, vegetables, red wines and teas healthy. Not all coffees contain the same quantity of phenols — those from high-altitude farms close to the equator in Africa outrank those from the far east, for example.

Buy beans from Kenya, ethiopia, Brazil and Colombia, and the lighter the roast the better. dark roasts contain fewer phenols, and are often undrinkable without milk and sugar.

What’s key here is drinking coffee after a high-fat meal: a high-quality medium roast cup also contains an important substance called melanoidin, an antioxidant that works in the digestive system to decrease the absorption of fats.

IT ALSO MAKES FAT LESS DANGEROUS

PheNoLs in coffee exert powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on the body, fighting the forces that fuel many diseases, including cancer. But they also decrease peroxidation, a process

which creates more dangerous fats that can damage cell membranes and contribute to the risk of coronary artery disease.

BUT ISN’T CAFFEINE BAD FOR YOU?

Caffeine and phenols are the two ingredients in coffee that aid weight loss the most. But caffeine has also been associated with causing insomnia, nervousness, stomach complaints, a racing heart and even muscle tremors, so why is it suddenly being touted as healthy?

The truth is that different people react to caffeine in different ways. There’s no official recommended limit, but it’s generally agreed that four coffees a day are safe for most adults, and as long as your last one is drunk in the early afternoon, it shouldn’t affect your sleep.

However, check with your doctor before starting the diet and if you feel anxious, can’t sleep, or find your heart racing, you’re probably getting too much caffeine. if so, switch to high-quality, high-phenol decaf and you’ll still get results.

NOT ALL COFFEES ARE CREATED EQUAL

Many coffee drinks are serious nutritional disasters, potentially adding hundreds of extra calories a day. a large frozen cappuccino from a High Street chain, for example, can load on more than 600 calories — the equivalent of a meal — and a whopping 105g of sugar. These sweet treats are hard to give up, especially because they’re paired with the mood boost you get from coffee.

The key here is to replace these coffee catastrophes with treats that are good for you, contain a fraction of the calories, and taste even better — see the blended coffee drink recipes listed below.

The rest of the coffee you consume — your fat-busting reward coffee — should be black. But that’s no hardship when you use good, light-roasted beans that burst with flavours such as blackberry, raspberry, hazelnut, dark chocolate, cinnamon and honey.

Drinking coffee in this new way, and taking time to enjoy it, will help you physically and mentally in your efforts to lose weight.

DON’T MAKE THESE COMMON MISTAKES

1. Don’t use dirty equipment Coffee tastes better if you wash your equipment regularly. Regularly run a brew without coffee but with white vinegar in the water to cleanse your kit. 2. Don’t use pre-ground beans There is no way to make a fresh cup of coffee when you buy preground beans. Buy whole beans and grind them just before brewing for the freshest-tasting coffee. 3. Don’t use old beans Buy only what you need for one to two weeks so that your coffee doesn’t go stale. 4. Don’t refrigerate coffee The moisture that can form on refrigerated or frozen beans stales them instantly and there’s a strong chance your beans may end up tasting like your leftover salmon. Store coffee in an opaque, airtight container in a dark, dry place. 5. Don’t use tap water Cut the chlorine and minerals from your coffee. Use only spring or filtered water. YOUR DAILY PLAN To kiCkSTaRT weight loss, try this short-term, fast-acting plan that relies on three filling fruit smoothies in place of meals, plus flavourful black coffees to reward you with a mood lift and act as a distraction from snacking.

The blended coffees, meanwhile, serve as decadent, nutritious treats to substitute your daily high-fat High Street latte. Remember to drink eight glasses of water a day, too. as with any diet plan check with your doctor first.

The smoothies will keep you full and satisfy all your nutritional needs, and the coffees will keep you happy and energised. aim for 1,500 calories a day and mix and match smoothies and coffee drinks. it couldn’t be simpler: SMOOTHIES — BREAKFAST, LUNCH, AND DINNER: Choose a smoothie recipe and make three servings in

the morning (or the night before) to drink throughout the day. you may need to multiply the recipes to reach your daily calorie total.

COFFEES: Have your first cup when you wake. you’ll start burning fat within the hour and feel alive again with a nice, smooth onset of caffeine-induced wakefulness.

Remember, it takes almost an hour to feel the full effects of caffeine, so you’ll overload if you drink too much at once. Two hours is a nice interval after which to have your second cup.

Make a coffee whenever you feel like snacking, or when you need an energy boost. Drink one an hour before you work out.

SNACKS: Choose a snack such as hummus and carrot sticks, rice cakes and cottage cheese or a handful of almonds, once or twice per day, but only if you’re hungry.

EXERCISE: exercise in the morning if your schedule allows (any kind of aerobic or strengthening exercise will do). With nothing but coffee on board, you’ll start burning fat right away. if you prefer to exercise in the evening, try drinking a coffee an hour beforehand, choosing decaf if you’re caffeine-sensitive.

Depending on how much weight you want to lose and your lifestyle, an appropriate time on this regime may be three days or three weeks. When you feel slimmer and more energised, replace one of the smoothies with a healthy, low-fat solid meal of about 500 calories.

Stick with this regime until you’re down to your target weight. now change again, so that you’re eating two solid meals per day and one smoothie for breakfast, plus, of course, your coffees.

Log onto one of the many online calculators that use your sex, height, weight and activity level to calculate a precise daily calorie requirement tailored just to you.

you’ll be amazed at the rejuvenating effect coffee can have.

AdApted by Alison Roberts from the coffee lover’s diet: change your coffee, change your life by dr Bob Arnot, published by William Morrow on July 27 at £18.99. © Bob Arnot 2017. to order a copy for £14.24, visit mailbookshop.co.uk or call 0844 571 0640. p&p free on orders over £15.