Most of us know don’t need a reason to love coffee.  It’s delicious aroma and energizing boost can make the morning grind bearable.

But there are actually a lot of reasons to love coffee and most stem from its stimulating, addictive compound – caffeine.  The truth is, there are a ton of benefits to coffee and caffeine and there really is no reason to avoid it.

But first, a disclaimer! Enjoy coffee within reason, it’s not ok to drink 10 cups of extra strong roast loaded up with 5 tablespoons of sugar and heavy cream.

It is ok to enjoy a few cups, without the added calories.  Here are 7 reasons to keep sipping on coffee. 

1. Boost Your Brain Coffee’s active ingredient caffeine can boost your brain by blocking certain compounds that can slow it down.  Research has shown that when caffeine was supplemented, the activity of the prefrontal lobe of the brain increases. This leads to improved focus, concentration, and alertness. Research on Navy Seals given the caffeine equivalent to 1 or 2 cups of coffee after sleep deprivation and continuous exposure to stressors showed improved reaction time, memory and alertness as well as reduced fatigue and sleepiness. That means coffee can actually boost your brainpower first thing in the morning after a rough bender or get you through a post-lunch afternoon crash.
2. Energizer for Workouts Downing a double shot of espresso before a workout can do wonders for your energy.  It can also enhance focus when performing exercise and improve workout performance. Caffeine can also cause less reliance on the body’s energy reserves.  Instead, caffeine forces an increase in fat to be burned as fuel. This means you burn more fat and hold onto more energy for your workouts.
3. Makes You a Superhero Even just a moderate dose of caffeine can significantly enhance strength as well as time to fatigue during a workout.   This means more strength, and longer workouts!  This is a result of alterations of neuromuscular function and muscle contraction.  Caffeine supplementation increases your muscles work capacity, allowing you to train harder and longer, but even to go further!  One study showed trained athletes ran 2 to 3 km more on caffeine – wow! Further research on the effects of caffeine in strength-power sports suggests that supplementation can help athletes have more energy for prolonged exercise.  This performance effect is more than likely specific to the individual and their caffeine tolerance.
4. You Become Tough as Nails In addition to making you stronger, faster and more energetic – coffee can work as a mild analgesic, which means its blocks the feeling of pain! Caffeine consumption can significantly increase plasma levels of beta-endorphin concentrations following exercise. Endorphins are peptides that activate the body’s opiate receptors causing the analgesic or pain-numbing effect. When endorphin levels are high, this can lead to a decrease in pain perception, which means longer workouts!
5. Works Super-Fast One of the best benefits of caffeine and coffee, is its ability to quickly cross the blood brain barrier stimulating the central nervous system quickly.  That means if you need a quick pick-up, whether it’s to bust through the afternoon wall, or rev you up for a night of fun, caffeine can start to work within 15 to 30 minutes of consumption and peak within 1 hour post ingestion. What’s more, caffeine clearance takes 3 to 6 hours, which means it can provide you with hours of extra energy. What you choose to do with that energy is up to you!
6. Melts Body Fat Caffeine consumption can promote a significant metabolism increasing effect. Caffeine consumption of 100mg resulted in a significant thermogenic – calorie burning effect despite the fact that subjects had a habitual caffeine intake of 100-200 mg per day. The increase in energy expenditure did not return to baseline until 3 hours post-consumption. Caffeine also has a harmonious effect when combined with other ingredients such as green tea. Caffeine blocks a key enzyme involved in degradation of norepinephrine—a fat burning hormone that gets stimulated by green tea. Caffeine’s action allows norepinephrine levels to remain elevated for longer periods.
7. Less Moody More Happy Caffeine is a natural stimulant that can increase the amount of adrenaline in the blood, resulting in increased levels of energy and improved alertness. It can also block adenosine, the neurotransmitter that slows down nerves and signals sleep, further resulting in enhanced energy. Additionally, it also increases levels of serotonin and dopamine, which can increase feelings of being happier and more relaxed.  The result a feel-good energetic buzz!  So go ahead have another cup!

 

Keep the Good Stuff Working for You….

Drink too much coffee will make you become tolerant and insensitive to these amazing effects!

Cycling on and off coffee every now and again, can help keep this baby on your side for the long run! If you have been a frequent user of caffeine in the form of coffee, fat burners, pre-workouts, or energy drinks, consider cycling off of them for a period of 1 week to help reset your neuro receptors and get that coffee working for you once again!