Caffeine Could Help Ward Off Obesity: Study

If a cup of coffee is part of your morning routine, here is a scientific explanation to stick with it. And for those who want to try a new method of getting their caffeine high, Mate Tea could be the fix. A new rat study suggests that including caffeine in one's diet can help ward off obesity. The findings of the study are published in the Journal of Functional Foods. The study comes out of the University of Illinois, where researchers have been toying with the notion that caffeine, cholesterol production, and weight all have something in common.

The study period is a 4-week study. Rats that consumed the caffeine from mate tea achieved 16 percent less weight and accumulated 22 percent less body fat than rats that consumed decaffeinated mate tea.

For those unfamiliar, mate tea is an herbal drink rich in phytochemicals, amino acids, and flavonoids, and that are consumed as a stimulant by southeastern Latin American countries.

The study strictly monitored rats eating a diet that contained 45 percent carbohydrate, 40 percent fat, and 15 percent protein. In the control group, the rats also ingested another form of caffeine in an amount equivalent to what a person would drink in four cups of coffee daily.

After the four-weeks, the percentage of lean body mass in the different groups of rats differed significantly. According to the research, the rats ingested caffeine from mate tea, coffee, or synthetic sources gained less body fat compared to rats in other groups.

Source-Medindia