Coffee ‘could help you slim’ – Here are 3 of our fave places for coffee in Liverpool

A cup of coffee stimulates brown fat, which has the power to help keep weight under control, experts say.

Drinking coffee could help boost weight loss, researchers say. And this is a good thing as we love our coffee in Liverpool.

Experts found that drinking a cup of coffee can stimulate “brown fat”, which burns calories to generate body heat.

Professor Michael Symonds, from the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, who co-directed the study, said this was the first research to show how coffee has an impact on brown fat in humans.

He said: “Brown fat works in a different way to other fat in your body and produces heat by burning sugar and fat, often in response to cold.

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“Increasing its activity improves blood sugar control as well as improving blood lipid levels and the extra calories burnt help with weight loss.

“This is the first study in humans to show that something like a cup of coffee can have a direct effect on our brown fat functions.

“The potential implications of our results are pretty big, as obesity is a major health concern for society and we also have a growing diabetes epidemic and brown fat could potentially be part of the solution in tackling them.”

Researchers, writing in the journal Scientific Reports, first used stem cells to see if caffeine would stimulate brown fat.

They then moved on to humans, using a thermal imaging technique to trace the body’s brown fat reserves as they emitted heat.

Prof Symonds said: “From our previous work, we knew that brown fat is mainly located in the neck region, so we were able to image someone straight after they had a drink to see if the brown fat got hotter.

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“The results were positive and we now need to ascertain that caffeine as one of the ingredients in the coffee is acting as the stimulus or if there’s another component helping with the activation of brown fat.

“We are currently looking at caffeine supplements to test whether the effect is similar.

“Once we have confirmed which component is responsible for this, it could potentially be used as part of a weight management regime or as part of glucose regulation programme to help prevent diabetes.”

Brown fat – also known as brown adipose tissue (BAT) – differs from “white fat” in the body, which occurs as a result of excess calories.

Experts say people with a lower body mass index (BMI) tend to have a higher amount of brown fat.

3 of our fave places for coffee in Liverpool

Bold Street Coffee – Er, Bold Street! Bold Street Coffee work with professionals who care about coffee, food and camaraderie as much as they do. Behind the bar and in the kitchen, everyone brings something unique and as testament to that, their Cortado is rated the best among dedicated espresso drinkers around the city. You’ll also be able to get your fix from Bold Street at various festivals, launch events and conferences across the region. Cheers!

Moose – Dale Street. A huge hit with the business community, Moose pancakes are famous the city over, but did you know their coffee range is huge too!? Their authentic American short order menu is complimented by a range of premium espresso based coffee and their own special blends. It’s so good they have an online store too! Buy your beans here!

92 Degrees Coffee – Hardman Street. Situated on the corner of Hardman Street and Hope Street, 92 Degrees coffee is the perfect place to fully appreciate National Coffee Day. The coffee shop is light and has a relaxed feel and as the first combined coffee shop and micro roastery in the city, you can taste unique blends of beans, spanning the globe, roasted right in front of your eyes! Check out their online store here.

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