Coffee drinkers have less fat, more muscle, and surprising hormone differences
Summarized from sciencedaily.com
Coffee drinkers have less fat, more muscle, and surprising hormone differences, according to new research from Finland. The study analyzed information from 2,264 people who were 46 years old and taking part in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Researchers investigated how participants’ usual coffee intake related to circulating metabolites, indicators of cardiometabolic risk, and sex hormone levels.
The findings suggest that regular coffee consumption is associated with healthier body composition, favorable metabolic markers, and distinct patterns involving sex hormones in men and women. People who consumed more coffee tended to have lower levels of both total body fat and visceral fat, along with greater skeletal muscle mass. These differences appeared even though participants with higher and lower coffee intake had a similar body mass index (BMI). Higher coffee consumption was also associated with lower circulating concentrations of branched-chain amino acids in both men and women.
In terms of hormone patterns, some of the clearest differences appeared among men. Greater coffee consumption was associated with a more favorable glucose-insulin profile, higher levels of total and bioavailable testosterone, and greater concentrations of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). However, free testosterone and the free androgen index were modestly lower in men. The hormonal associations were less extensive in women, mainly being associated with increased SHBG and lower measures of free androgens.
The researchers suggest that these findings raise the possibility that hormonal pathways could help explain some of the previously observed relationship between coffee consumption and metabolic health. However, because the research was observational, it cannot establish that drinking coffee directly caused any of the biological differences identified in the study. Further research is necessary to determine whether coffee itself produces these biological changes and which compounds may be responsible.