The world of nutrition and supplements is full of dizzying promises, with products that make miraculous promisesand few have made as much noise in the last decade as green coffee. Often marketed as the definitive panacea for weight loss, this product has flooded herbalists, pharmacies and supermarkets, making it available to anyone who wants to finally achieve weight loss without much effort. However, behind the intense marketing, there is hidden a biochemical reality that goes far beyond advertising slogans and that justifies part of their effect.
Although a priori, when we talk about coffee to lose weight, we can go with the idea of the extreme thermogenic effect or the extreme dose of caffeine that activates our metabolism, the reality is different. Here science has a clear answer about its real benefits, pointing to a specific compound that we sacrifice every morning in favor of flavor: chlorogenic acid.
What is green coffee?
To understand green coffee you do not have to travel to exotic plantations looking for a rare species that produces this product, since green coffee is purely and simply the coffee seed in its natural state, before being subjected to the roasting process which gives it its characteristic black color. Of course, we normally talk about the varieties Arabica coffee either Coffea canephora.
If we put ourselves in the ‘normal’ situation, when we roast the coffee beans At temperatures around 200 degrees, Maillard reactions occur. A thermal process that is responsible for generating the characteristic intoxicating aroma, dark color and deep flavor that we can appreciate so much in the morning cup. However, these high temperatures produce a large destruction of bioactive compounds that can help us a lot in our daily lives.
That is why logic prevails above all else here: if roasting degrades the healthiest compounds, then we eat it without roasting. And specifically, the element that is most important to us to preserve here is called chlorogenic acid, a powerful antioxidant ester, which is something that we want to preserve above all to reduce the hated oxidative stress that destroys our cells and accelerates aging.
In this way, green coffee preserves the three characteristics of this compound intact, becoming an exceptional vehicle for introducing a series of phytochemicals into the body that gives it very interesting properties to achieve the benefits that we will see later.
Properties of green coffee
As we have said, the chemical composition of green coffee is a gold mine for pharmacognosy. By not being subjected to the thermal stress of roasting, it preserves certain components intact that make it a product with high functional potential.
It has a lower amount of caffeine. Contrary to what intuition dictates, green coffee generally contains less than half the caffeine than a cup of conventional black coffee. This means that its stimulating effects on the central nervous system are much milder, which can be very interesting for those who are more sensitive to caffeine. In this way, by not generating such an aggressive alert peak, your consumers rarely need to apply the 90 minute rule after waking up to have your first cup and avoid cortisol shock.
Chlorogenic acid. As we have mentioned before, it is the real star of the metabolic function of green coffee, since this compound formed by caffeic acid and quinic acid has led science to classify it into three main classes and that in green coffee it has a maximum concentration.
High antioxidant capacity. Various analyzes of beans from different producing regions, including exhaustive studies on Mexican varieties, have confirmed that green coffee has a significantly higher amount of total phenols and a higher antioxidant capacity compared to its roasted counterpart.
Presence of trigonelline. An alkaloid that is also better preserved in its raw state and that, according to various tests, collaborates in the regulation of glucose metabolism.
What the science says about green coffee
Scientific scrutiny on this product has been intense, especially after the proliferation of low-quality studies in the early 2010s, some of which, highly publicized, ended up being retracted by scientific journals due to methodological flaws. Today, the evidence is much more solid, mature and, above all, realistic.
The most comprehensive systematic reviews, such as the one led by Tajik in 2017 that analyzed Nearly a hundred studies, both in vivo and in vitro, agree on a clear verdict: the chlorogenic acid present in green coffee is a powerful bioactive agent with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects.
But logically here science puts a brake on marketing campaigns, since green coffee does not produce a drastic transformation nor does it magically “melt” fat or rejuvenate in a snap, but it does improve different biomarkers of our metabolic health. In this way, we are not talking about something miraculous, but we are talking about something protective.
Benefits of green coffee
From all the scientific evidence, a compilation can be made of what this green coffee is used for on a daily basis and if it is really proven, since these are the benefits that enter our eyes and that they try to sell us to finally pay for green coffee.
weight loss
It is one of the most popular benefits that allows many people to take the step to start taking it, but the question we must ask ourselves here is: is green coffee really useful for losing weight? Here a study published in 2023 shed light on this issue by evaluating green coffee extract, providing at least 500 mg of chlorogenic acid daily to patients.
The conclusion they drew was simply visual, as these patients had a significant, but modest, reduction of approximately 1.3 kg in the participants’ body weight.
Another important piece of information was given to us in 2019. a second study which stated that the supplements had no measurable effect if consumed for less than four weeks. However, in long-term clinical trials using extracts with 70% CGA and less than 1% caffeine, reductions in body weight of up to 6% were documented, accompanied by a drop in plasma levels of leptin, which is the hormone that makes us feel full.
This is something that confirms the central hypothesis: the slimming effect falls purely on chlorogenic acid, not on caffeine.
Cardiovascular health
The benefits are not limited to the scale, although it is the first thing we tend to stick with in our minds. Here the cardiovascular system seems to benefit notably from the phenolics of the raw bean, since a 2021 meta-analysis on cardiovascular risk factors concluded that supplementation with green coffee extract achieved modest but clinical reductions in blood pressure, lowering systolic pressure by about 3 mmHg and diastolic pressure by 2.3 mmHg, without causing significant alterations in heart rate.
metabolic effect
Something that has been proven in this sense is that sustained consumption of chlorogenic acid interferes with the absorption of carbohydrates in the digestive tract and regulates the release of glucose into the bloodstream. Different studies published in journals such as Nutr J have pointed out that green coffee extract induces measurable improvements in fasting glucose levels and in parallel, an improvement has also been recorded in the general lipid profile, favoring a slight reduction in total cholesterol and LDL, which is known as ‘bad cholesterol’.
Cosmetics and skin care
Beyond its intake, the dermoaesthetic industry has set its eyes on the unroasted seed and that it lacks the benefits on weight or glucose absorption. Here is a recent review on the International Journal of Cosmetic Science mapped the current patents on green coffee, highlighting the use that can be given to it on the skin, and thanks to its enormous arsenal of antioxidants, the extracts are being successfully used in anti-aging formulations, moisturizing creams and even in lotions that stimulate hair growth, opening a path of external benefits that we have only just begun to explore.
How to drink green coffee
Unlike the classic morning espresso, the experience of consuming green coffee is more similar to that of drinking herbal tea, with a slightly acidic, astringent and botanical flavor. From here we must also know that There are different systems to prepare it.
The first way to take it is in direct infusionthat is, from the whole or ground grain. Here in the market you can find raw grains that can be ground in a powerful grinder, since it is a fairly hard grain. And later, you can infuse it in hot water. The problem here is that, despite being the most natural form, it is difficult to calculate the exact concentration of chlorogenic acid that is ingested per cup.
The second option we have available is to use standardized green coffee extract capsules, since the dose can be controlled much better, which is 500 mg taken twice a day, ensuring a high percentage of CGA.
Your security profile
Even though the mantra is “it has a lot less caffeine,” it’s vital to remember that less doesn’t mean zero. People extremely sensitive to stimulants, pregnant women, or individuals with severe anxiety disorders should consult a doctor before taking it regularly. It should be noted that in high doses this green coffee can also cause nervousness or occasional insomnia, as well as gastrointestinal discomfort.
In this way, it can be concluded that green coffee is an excellent addition to a healthy lifestyle, supported by potent and real bioactive compounds. as with matchabut it should be understood as a medium-term metabolic ally, not as a miraculous shortcut to a poor diet or a sedentary lifestyle.
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