Coffee & Metabolism – Does Caffeine Improve Your Metabolism?

Dr. Ricardo Alvarez | Last Updated : September 29, 2021

Do you crave a cup of coffee every day in the morning? Then you are not alone. 90 percent of Americans consume caffeine every day. It is the favorite beverage of people across the world.

Furthermore, it is safe to say that caffeine is the world’s most popular drug. Coffee contains caffeine, which is the most common psychoactive substance in the world.

How Does Coffee Increases Metabolic Rate? Types Of Metabolic Rates!

Caffeine is considered to have fat-burning properties. But, does caffeine improve your metabolism? Let’s find out if consuming caffeine improves your metabolism or not.

Coffee & Metabolism - Does Caffeine Improve Your Metabolism?

Sources Of Caffeine 

Caffeine is found in the leaves, fruits, and beans of cocoa and guarana. It is extracted from there and added to beverages.

  • Coffee: 1 cup of brewed coffee contains 95 mg caffeine. Instant coffee contains about 60 mg of caffeine in a cup. Decaffeinated coffee contains about 4 mg of caffeine.  
  • Tea: 1 cup of black tea has about 47 mg of caffeine. Green tea contains about 28 mg. Decaffeinated tea contains 2 mg, and herbal tea contains no caffeine.  
  • Soda: A small can of regular or diet soda has about 40 mg of caffeine. 
  • Chocolate (cacao): 1 ounce of dark chocolate has about 24 mg of caffeine. 
  • Guarana:  It is a seed from a South American plant that is processed in foods, energy drinks, and supplements. Guarana seeds contain about four times more caffeine than coffee beans. 
  • Energy drinks: 1 cup of an energy drink contains 85 mg of caffeine. Energy shots have more caffeine than drinks; a small 2-ounce shot contains about 200 mg of caffeine. 
  • Supplements: Supplements that have caffeine and contain 200 mg per tablet or the same amount in 2 cups of coffee.

Caffeine Helps In Breaking Fat Tissues

Caffeine boosts the nervous system. This stimulates the fat cells helping them to break down fat. It increases the hormone epinephrine in the blood. Epinephrine travels through the blood to the fat tissues and signals them to break down fat. 

This results in weight loss which has a direct link to increasing metabolism. 

Coffee has Elements that Improves Metabolism 

Coffee consists of 3 main substances that improve metabolism

  • Theobromine: found in smaller portions in coffee and the main stimulant in cocoa
  • Theophylline, found in cocoa and coffee; and
  • Chlorogenic acid, a biologically active substance in coffee

These substances play a vital role in our sugar and carbs consumption

Theophylline becomes theobromine after consumption. This process results in activating insulin, helping us better metabolize sugars.

Chlorogenic acid slows the absorption of carbohydrates. One research showed that chlorogenic acid, when added into coffee, slowed down the absorption of carbs in the intestines. The same result isn’t with regular coffee. 

Therefore, coffee slows down the absorption of sugar and carbohydrates which eventually improves metabolism. 

Coffee Increases the Metabolic Rate

The greater the metabolic rate the better the metabolism. Increased metabolic rate improves the overall function of your body. 

There are two types of metabolic rates

  • The rate at which you burn calories without doing anything (at rest) is called Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)
  • The calorie count that you need to burn to carry on with everyday tasks is called Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

Studies have shown that caffeine improves the Resting Metabolic Rate by 11%. 

Caffeine in the Body

Caffeine is absorbed into the blood and tissues. Absorption is almost done about 45 minutes after ingestion. The strong caffeine concentration is reached 15-120 minutes after ingestion. 

Caffeine has a life of approximately four hours. Although this timescale may differ from person to person. There is slow absorption of caffeine in some people, such as pregnant women, those who smoke, and people with impaired liver function.

Caffeine’s effect lasts for long hours, depending on how fast it is absorbed and metabolized by the body.

Caffeine absorption from food and beverages does depend on age, gender, genetic background, and disease or drugs, alcohol, and nicotine consumption. Caffeine absorption from tea and coffee is similar. Let me tell you about a healthy natural weight loss coffee supplement that improves your metabolism and makes you more energetic. Read the Java Burn real reviews to know about its genuinity, price, benefits, how does it help you, and to know all the information on the Java Burn coffee supplement.

How the Body Metabolises Caffeine?

Caffeine is metabolized in the liver by cytochrome P450 enzymes, which are responsible for more than 90% of caffeine clearance. The enzyme which metabolizes caffeine is coded as CYP1A2.

The large changeability of CYP1A2 activity influences the clearance of caffeine. This may be affected by factors such as gender, race, genetics, disease, and exposure to inducers. Two studies have shown that regular consumption of caffeine for a week did not change caffeine pharmacokinetics. 

However, a further study revealed that the regular consumption of 3 cups of coffee increased CYP1A2 in the body.

Caffeine, Health, and Other Factors

Many non-genetic factors can impact the way caffeine is absorbed and used to improve the metabolism of the body. 

◼️Liver disease 

The liver is responsible for caffeine metabolism. Studies have looked at the impact of certain types of liver disease including hepatitis B or C, suggesting that they may cause a decrease in plasma clearance of caffeine in terms of the seriousness of the disease.  

◼️Smoking status

Research suggests that smoking helps caffeine clearance, and increases the rate of caffeine metabolism. It decreases the clearance of caffeine in the body. 

◼️Diet

Several diet factors may also affect caffeine metabolism.

Grapefruit juice decreases caffeine clearance by 23%. Consumption of broccoli and brassica increases caffeine absorption. Vegetables and vitamin C also increase caffeine clearance. 

The Bottom Line

Caffeine can improve your metabolism in the short run. But this gets lowered in long-term coffee drinkers. The habituated coffee drinkers become tolerable to coffee.

If you drink coffee for fat loss, you must check your coffee habits to prevent the building of tolerance. Perhaps cycles of two weeks coffee, two weeks off is best. Of course, there are many reasons to drink coffee. From the discussion above it can be said that coffee improves metabolism if consumed in the right proportions. 


Dr. Ricardo Alvarez

Dr. Ricardo Alvarez was a former Medical professor and faculty at Harvard Medical school. After resigning, now he is practicing as a general physician who deals with the diagnosis and treatment of general health problems and disorders. He earned his MS and PhD from Columbia University. Ricardo Alvarez completed his undergraduate education from an accredited medical college under the University of London and completed his training from AMCAS and is a doctor with earned board certification.

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