Will I lose weight if I have tea and coffee in my diet?

I have a lot of clients who drink massive amounts of Tea and Coffee, so I decided to do some research into how large amounts of caffeine can affect weight loss.

Studies have shown that caffeine (Coffee, Fizzy drinks, Tea) contributes to insulin resistance (thus making it harder to lose weight), increases appetite (again making it harder to lose weight) and contributes to food cravings (making it difficult to adhere to a weight loss diet). Studies also show that even decaffeinated coffee is shown to be detrimental to weight loss. 

Caffeine also interferes with GABA and prevents it from performing its calming duties in the human body. This then increases physiological and psychological stress (often associated with both overeating and difficulty adhering to a weight loss diet). 

Many overweight people, particularly those who have frequently 'dieted' and lost weight only to regain it later, are insulin resistant. Unfortunately, many people who are insulin resistant are unaware of it. If you have insulin resistance, using caffeine will further affect your metabolism. 

It will have the opposite outcome of what you want. In the long term, avoiding caffeine will help to boost your metabolism. Naturally increasing your metabolism by combining correct eating (replacing or strictly limiting refined/processed carbohydrates, wheat, dairy and alcohol with natural whole foods) and (unless unable to exercise) a mixture of different types of exercise including weight training, will lead to fat loss and increased lean muscle. Lean muscle is your metabolic furnace that will burn extra calories/energy 24 hours daily and not just when you are exercising. 

Even if you are unable to exercise, increasing metabolism and maintaining it long term will enable you to avoid future weight gain.

Green or White Tea have mixed studies, some show that they can aid weight loss, however, other studies show that Green tea in particular has Caffeine within its substance thus giving you similar problems to regular Tea.

So how much Caffeine is in your average cup of Tea and Coffee?

Drink Caffeine content (mg)

 Per mug/can

Brewed tea  55-140

Brewed coffee  140-210

Instant coffee  85-110

Decaffeinated coffee  5

Cocoa  7

Coca Cola  36

Pepsi Cola  22

Generally: 200-500mg/day is regarded as moderate use - 600-750mg/day is regarded as high use - Over 1,000mg/day is regarded as a toxic amount.

I leave you with that TOXIC thought!!