What’s the buzz on fitness coffee blends and green bean extract?

There are so many “healthy” coffee options on the market today — organic mushroom blend anyone? — and some are even marketed as being able to assist in weight loss. Thinking of swapping your usual cup of joe for some fortified fitness coffee or green coffee bean extract? Between dangerous substances found in some products shipped from overseas and lack of research, it’s wise to do your own homework.

Fortified coffee for fitness
Fortified coffee is typically blended with vitamins, nutrients and health supplements in order to improve and sustain health for coffee drinkers. The idea is that you can get all your vitamins and/or weight loss supplements, plus your usual caffeine fix, in one shot.

Fitness Coffee, for example, blends its coffee with 16 herbs and spices, including turmeric, licorice, ginger and cinnamon, among others. The company claims that if you replace your ordinary coffee with theirs, it could enhance your workout, speed up your metabolism, help you lose unwanted pounds and speed up your muscle recovery time. CafeFit’s “dieting blend” has appetite suppressants and fat burners. You’re supposed to only drink up to 3 cups a day; anything more can be reckless. Talk to your doctor before adding any supplement to your diet!

The green coffee bean extract buzz
All coffee beans are green in the beginning. Their full-bodied taste is released when they are roasted. Green coffee bean extract gives you the same natural energy that a regular cup of coffee would, but without the coffee flavor. Starbucks helped popularized the green bean extract buzz with its new line of Refreshers beverages.

Green coffee bean extract contains high concentrations of chlorogenic acids that are known to have health benefits and to influence glucose and fat metabolism, but more research is needed before jumping to conclusions.

Joe Vinson, a University of Scranton chemist, conducted a study in which 16 overweight young adults took, by turns, a low dose of green coffee bean extract, a high dose of the supplement, and a placebo. The results? Subjects lost an average of 17.5 pounds in 22 weeks and reduced their overall body weight by 10.5%. Keep in mind that the study was funded by Applied Food Sciences, a company that manufactures green coffee bean extract.

Anything wrong with a plain ol’ cup of Joe?
Caffeine stimulates the brain and contributes to clearer thinking and greater concentration, according to Active.com. This may be a great aid for exercise as you can focus on a workout without being easily disrupted. However, if you are sensitive to caffeine, use common sense and steer clear of it. There are conflicting studies regarding weight loss. Our advice: Stick with old-fashioned exercise and a healthy diet. Save the cup of joe for Monday morning at the office.

Beware of ordering slimming products overseas.
Make sure the products you buy — especially over the Internet — don’t contain sibutramine, a potentially deadly appetite suppressant. Although it was banned in the United States by the Federal Drug Administration two years ago, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are seeing a tremendous rise in shipments of diet pills, slimming coffee and even dried fruit containing sibutramine shipped from China, according to a CBS report. Sibutramine was banned by the FDA because it substantially increases blood pressure and/or pulse rate in some people and may increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people with a history of cardiovascular disease.

Tell us: Have you had any weight-loss luck with green coffee bean extract?

Tags: coffee, fitness, green coffee bean extract, weight loss

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