Coffee for weight loss (and green tea): what really helps

Is coffee good for weight loss? The short answer

Coffee can be part of losing weight, mainly because a plain cup has almost no calories and can replace sweeter drinks. It does not make you lose weight on its own, and a sweet café drink can do the opposite.

The same is true for tea. Green, black, oolong and herbal teas without sugar are all close to zero calories, and none of them melts body fat.

So the useful question is not “coffee, yes or no?”. It is “what is in my cup, how big is it, and how many do I have?”. This page answers that with research, real numbers and simple swaps you can try this week.

What research shows about caffeine and weight

Caffeine makes the body use slightly more energy for a few hours, but the effect is small and does not add up to much weight loss. This has been measured in the lab, in trials and in long studies of everyday coffee drinkers.

A small rise in energy use

In a classic laboratory study, a single 100 mg dose of caffeine, about one cup of filter coffee, raised resting energy use by 3 to 4 % for two and a half hours. Repeated doses through the day added about 80 to 150 kcal to daily energy use.

A later review pooled studies in which people lived for a day in a sealed room that measures energy use. Caffeine alone, or a caffeine and green tea catechin mix, raised energy use over 24 hours by about 4.7 %, roughly 100 kcal.

That sounds useful, yet the studies used capsules with fixed doses and lasted only a day. The body also adapts: in people who already drink a lot of coffee, the effect tends to be smaller.

Caffeine in weight-loss trials

A review of 13 randomised trials with 606 people found that more caffeine was linked with slightly more loss of weight and body fat. The trials were small and very different from each other, and the authors wrote that caffeine “might” promote weight loss.

In other words, the evidence points in a hopeful direction but is not strong. Nobody should drink more coffee than they like in the hope of losing weight.

Coffee drinkers followed for years

Three large US studies followed more than 100,000 nurses and health professionals for more than 20 years. People who added one cup of unsweetened coffee a day gained a little less weight over four years, about 0.1 kg less, and this was true for decaf too.

Each extra teaspoon of sugar a day in coffee went with a little more weight gain over the same four years. Studies like these show links, not cause and effect, but the message is consistent: plain coffee is fine, sugar is the part to watch.

A large review of coffee and health also found that moderate coffee drinking, around three to four cups a day, was more often linked with benefit than harm in adults. The clear exception was pregnancy, which we cover in the safety section below.

Is black coffee good for weight loss?

Yes, black coffee is a good drink for weight loss: a 240 ml cup has about 2 kcal and no sugar or fat. Its value is mostly in what it replaces, such as soft drinks, sweet coffees or juice.

Black coffee is not a fat-burning drink, and more cups do not mean more weight loss. Drinking it on top of your usual sweet drinks changes nothing for your weight.

If you find black coffee too bitter, a few small changes help:

• Try a lighter roast or a different method. Filter, cafetière (French press) and cold brew taste different from espresso, and many people find cold brew smoother.
• Add a little milk rather than sugar. A 30 ml splash of skimmed milk adds about 10 kcal and softens the taste.
• Add spice instead of syrup. A pinch of cinnamon or cardamom gives a sweet smell with no extra sugar.
• Give your taste buds time. Cutting sugar step by step over a few weeks is easier than stopping all at once.

Decaffeinated coffee counts too. It has the same near-zero calories, and the long US studies linked it with slightly less weight gain as well, which suggests the drink swap matters more than the caffeine.

If you follow a time-restricted eating pattern, our page on intermittent fasting explains which drinks fit the fasting hours.

The real issue: what goes into your cup

Sugar, syrups, cream and creamers carry nearly all the calories in coffee and tea. One spoon or splash is small, but three or four drinks a day turn small amounts into a meaningful total.

A splash of milk in tea or coffee is not a problem for most people. The calories climb with spoonfuls of sugar, cream, syrups and toppings, and with the number of cups.

A simple example: two teaspoons of sugar and two tablespoons of half-and-half in a mug of coffee come to about 75 kcal. Four of those a day is about 300 kcal, close to a small meal, without any feeling of having eaten.

Tea follows the same rule. Plain tea with a dash of milk is light, while sweet milky tea, chai lattes and bubble tea with syrup and tapioca pearls are closer to a snack or a dessert.

Café drinks and bottled coffees compared

Large milky and flavoured café drinks are where most of the calories in coffee hide. The size of the cup and the type of milk matter as much as the syrup on top.

A whole-milk latte is not a bad drink. It brings about 10 g of protein and a good amount of calcium, so it can stand in for a snack. Trouble starts when it comes on top of breakfast and lunch, or when it grows into a mocha with cream.

Bottled sweetened green tea is a good example of a healthy image hiding sugar: the 500 ml bottle above holds about 31 g of carbohydrate, most of it sugar. The unsweetened version has practically none.

For a fuller picture of how drinks fit into your day, our page on water and weight loss compares water with soft drinks, juice and diet drinks.

Ordering tips at a coffee shop

• Go one size down. A small latte instead of a large one can save around a third of the calories with the same taste.
• Ask for skimmed milk or unsweetened soya. Both cut the calories of a latte by close to half compared with whole milk.
• Ask for one pump of syrup instead of the standard amount, or skip it and add cinnamon or cocoa powder yourself.
• Skip the whipped cream and drizzle. Together they can add around 100 kcal to a single drink.
• Treat a pastry and a large milky coffee as a meal. If it replaces lunch, fine; if it comes on top, it adds up fast.

Best coffee creamer for weight loss

The best coffee creamer for weight loss is a small amount of milk or an unsweetened plant drink, measured rather than poured. Sweet flavoured creamers are the most calorie-dense choice per spoon, and most people use more than one spoon.

Most non-dairy creamers are made from water, sugar or glucose syrup and vegetable oil. “Non-dairy” does not mean light or healthy; it only means it is not made from milk.

The long US studies mentioned above did not find a clear link between using cream or creamer and weight change. Still, the amounts in the table are per level tablespoon, and a free pour from a bottle is often two or three times that.

How to choose a creamer from the label

1. Read the serving size. Many labels use one tablespoon. Pour your usual amount into a measuring spoon once to see how it compares.
2. Check the sugar. Words such as sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup solids or glucose syrup near the top of the list mean a sweet product.
3. Look at the type of fat. Some creamers use coconut or palm kernel oil, which are high in saturated fat. Avoid any that list partially hydrogenated oil.
4. Be wary of “sugar-free” on the front. These versions contain sweeteners and still contain oil, so the calories are lower but not zero.
5. Compare with plain milk. If milk suits you, it gives protein and calcium that creamers usually lack.

Our guide to dairy for weight loss compares cow’s milk with oat, almond, soya and other plant drinks in more detail, including protein and calcium.

A step-down plan for sugar and creamer

Cutting back gradually works better for most people than a sudden switch. Your taste adjusts over two to four weeks, and drinks that once tasted plain start to taste normal.

• Week 1: use a measuring spoon for sugar and creamer, so you know what you really add.
• Week 2: take half a spoon less sugar per cup, or swap one sweet coffee a day for a plain one.
• Week 3: replace flavoured creamer with milk plus a pinch of cinnamon or vanilla extract.
• Week 4: keep one favourite treat coffee a week and enjoy it without guilt.

Sweeteners can help as a bridge if they help you move away from sugar. Our page on water and weight loss explains what the research says about diet drinks and sweeteners in more detail.

Green tea for weight loss: what the trials show

Green tea is a fine drink for weight loss because it has almost no calories, but it causes little or no weight loss by itself. The best reviews of trials found effects that were small and often too small to matter.

Does green tea help with weight loss?

A Cochrane review looked at trials of at least 12 weeks in adults with overweight or obesity. Outside Japan, six trials with 532 people showed almost no difference in weight between green tea and dummy products, on average 0.04 kg.

Trials in Japan showed larger effects, from 0.2 kg to 3.5 kg, but they were too different from each other to combine. The reviewers concluded that green tea preparations lead to a small weight loss that is unlikely to be clinically important, and no help with keeping weight off.

An earlier review of 11 studies found an average extra loss of about 1.3 kg with catechins, the main plant compounds in green tea. The effect looked smaller in people who already took in more than 300 mg of caffeine a day, though this difference was not statistically clear.

The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health sums it up carefully: catechins and caffeine in green tea “may have a modest effect” on body weight. Most of these trials used extracts or special drinks with high doses, not ordinary cups of tea.

Green tea in daily life

Drink green tea because you enjoy it and because it can replace a sweet drink, not as a weight-loss tool. A few cups of plain green tea a day are safe for most adults and add almost nothing to your calorie intake.

• Brew it gently. Water just off the boil and two to three minutes of steeping give a less bitter taste.
• Try it cold. Iced green tea with mint or a slice of lemon is a refreshing alternative to soft drinks in summer.
• Watch the bottled kind. Choose unsweetened bottled tea; many “green tea” drinks are sweetened.
• Black, oolong and herbal teas work just as well as a low-calorie drink. Herbal and fruit teas without sugar have no caffeine, which suits the evening.

Green tea extract supplements and liver safety

Green tea extract in capsules or tablets is not the same as drinking green tea. Concentrated extracts have been linked to rare cases of serious liver injury, and Obesity Foundation does not recommend them for weight loss.

The European Food Safety Authority reviewed the safety of green tea catechins. It considered green tea brewed in the traditional way to be generally safe at normal intakes. It also found that supplements with 800 mg or more of EGCG, the main catechin, a day raised liver enzymes in clinical trials, a sign of stress on the liver.

Supplements on the market supply anything from 5 to 1,000 mg of EGCG a day, and the label does not always make the dose clear. Rare cases of liver injury have also been reported with tea drinks, most likely as an individual reaction.

The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health adds that people with a certain immune-system gene variant seem more prone to this liver injury. Other reported side effects of extracts include nausea, constipation, stomach discomfort and higher blood pressure.

Green tea in large amounts can also interact with some medicines. Examples include nadolol, a beta-blocker for blood pressure and heart problems, the cholesterol medicine atorvastatin, and raloxifene for osteoporosis.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking green tea extract or any “fat burner” that contains it, especially if you have liver disease, drink alcohol regularly or take medicines. Stop and seek medical help if you notice yellow skin or eyes, dark urine, pain in the upper right of your belly or unusual tiredness.

“Weight loss coffee”, mushroom coffee and coffee with lemon: a myth-check

No coffee product makes you lose weight by itself. Coffees sold for weight loss work, at best, through their caffeine, which has the small effect described above, and through the hope that you drink them instead of something sweeter.

Slimming and “weight loss” coffees

Products sold as slimming coffee often add green coffee bean extract, green tea extract, garcinia, chromium or herbal mixes to instant coffee. A large review of 315 trials of weight-loss supplements and alternative therapies found that few studies were of good quality, and few of those showed any difference in weight.

Products sold for weight loss are also a common target for hidden ingredients. Over ten years, the US regulator warned about 317 weight-loss supplements that contained medicines not on the label, most often sibutramine, a drug withdrawn because of heart risks. Our page on weight loss myths explains how to spot claims that are too good to be true.

Mushroom coffee

Mushroom coffee is usually ground or instant coffee mixed with powdered extracts of mushrooms such as lion’s mane, chaga or reishi. We could not find any published trial showing that mushroom coffee helps people lose weight.

Some blends contain less coffee per serving than a normal mug, so check the label for the caffeine content. If less caffeine is what you are after, half-caf or decaf coffee does the same job, usually for a lower price.

Mushroom extracts are supplements, and their safety with long-term daily use or with medicines has been studied very little. If you have kidney or liver disease, take blood thinners or diabetes medicines, ask your doctor before using them.

Coffee with lemon

Coffee with lemon juice is a social-media trend with no research behind it for weight loss. A squeeze of lemon adds only a few calories and does not change how your body uses fat.

If you like the taste, there is no harm in it for most people. If you have reflux or a sensitive stomach, the extra acid may make symptoms worse.

Butter coffee

Coffee blended with butter and coconut oil or MCT oil is promoted for energy and fat burning. As the table above shows, one mug made with a tablespoon of each comes to about 225 kcal, almost all of it fat.

If it truly replaces your breakfast and keeps you full, it is a high-fat meal with very little protein or fibre. If it comes on top of breakfast, it adds a lot of energy, and the saturated fat is a concern for people with high cholesterol or heart disease.

How much caffeine is safe?

For healthy adults, up to about 400 mg of caffeine spread over the day raises no safety concerns, according to the European Food Safety Authority. That is roughly four cups of filter coffee, and the limit is lower in pregnancy and for children.

• Healthy adults: up to 400 mg a day spread over the day, and single doses up to 200 mg, are considered safe.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding: up to 200 mg a day from all sources is considered safe for the baby.
• Children and teenagers: about 3 mg per kilogram of body weight a day as an upper level.
• Sleep: even 100 mg close to bedtime can shorten or disturb sleep in some adults.

Large café coffees can contain two or three shots of espresso, so one big cup can hold more caffeine than a standard cup of filter coffee. Caffeine also comes from tea, cola, energy drinks, chocolate and some medicines, and it all adds up.

The large review of coffee and health found that in pregnancy, higher coffee intake was linked with low birth weight, preterm birth and pregnancy loss. If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, keep below 200 mg a day and discuss your intake with your midwife or doctor.

When coffee and tea may not suit you

Most adults can enjoy moderate amounts of coffee and tea, but caffeine affects people differently. Sleep, anxiety, heart rhythm, reflux and medicines are the main reasons to cut down or switch to decaf.

Sleep

Caffeine late in the day is one of the most common, and most fixable, causes of poor sleep. In a home study, a strong dose of caffeine taken even six hours before bedtime still disturbed sleep, compared with a dummy pill.

In a trial in which 100 adults were told on random days to drink coffee or avoid caffeine, they slept about 36 minutes less on coffee days. Short sleep makes hunger and cravings harder to manage, so protecting your sleep supports weight loss too.

A practical rule: have your last caffeinated drink at least six hours before bed, and switch to decaf, herbal or fruit tea in the afternoon and evening. Our page on sleep, stress and mental health has more on building a calmer evening.

Anxiety and the jitters

Caffeine stimulates the nervous system. In larger amounts, or in people who are sensitive to it, it can cause shakiness, a racing heart, restlessness and anxiety.

If you live with anxiety or panic attacks, notice whether coffee makes them worse, and try decaf for a week to compare. Do not stop a heavy coffee habit all at once, as withdrawal can cause headaches and tiredness for a few days; cut back over one to two weeks instead.

Heart rhythm and blood pressure

In the same trial, coffee did not cause more extra beats from the upper chambers of the heart. It did lead to more extra beats from the lower chambers, which are usually harmless in healthy people but can matter if you have a heart condition.

If you have a heart rhythm problem, heart failure or high blood pressure that is hard to control, ask your doctor how much caffeine is right for you. The same applies if you notice palpitations after coffee or tea.

Reflux and the stomach

Some people find that coffee, strong tea or drinking either on an empty stomach brings on heartburn or an upset stomach; others notice nothing. If it bothers you, try a smaller cup, a milder roast, decaf or having your drink with food.

Medicines and health conditions

Some medicines change how quickly the body clears caffeine, and caffeine can change how some medicines work. Large amounts of green tea can interact with certain heart, cholesterol and bone medicines, as described above.

If you take regular medicines, ask your pharmacist whether coffee or tea affects them. Bring the question to your next appointment; our doctor visit checklist helps you remember what to ask.

Coffee, walking and exercise

Coffee pairs well with movement, as long as the walk is the main event and the coffee is plain. In the trial above, people took on average about 1,000 more steps on days they drank coffee than on days without caffeine.

That does not mean you need coffee to move. It does suggest a habit you can use: walk to get your coffee rather than having it brought to your desk, or take your morning cup on a short walk around the block.

• Make the café a walking goal. Choose one 10 to 15 minutes away, and order a small plain coffee or tea when you get there.
• Meet a friend for a walking coffee instead of sitting with cake.
• Keep the treat small. A walk of 20 minutes uses fewer calories than many people expect, and a large mocha can cancel it out.

For timing coffee and food around a workout, see our page on what to eat before and after a workout. Our walking for weight loss plan starts with a few minutes a day.

A 7-day plan to make your coffee and tea work for you

Talk to your doctor first if you have heart problems, high blood pressure, anxiety, reflux, are pregnant or take regular medicines. This plan is general advice to help you look at your own habits, not a personal prescription.

Drinks are only part of the picture. Our free 7-day eating plan shows how meals, snacks and drinks fit into one week, and our calorie calculator gives a rough idea of how much energy your body uses.

If your afternoon coffee usually comes with biscuits, our list of healthy snacks has filling options. Evening drinks matter too, and our page on alcohol and weight loss covers wine, beer and spirits.

Prefer to drink your coffee cold? A coffee and oat blend can work as a breakfast; our smoothies for weight loss page has a balanced recipe with protein.

How Obesity Foundation helps you lose weight with good food

We help people lose weight and get healthier with good food, suitable exercise and walking. All our help is free, and you choose what you use.

• Your own eating plan: meals and drinks matched to your taste, your budget and how you like your coffee or tea. Ask for your free eating plan.
• 150 free workout videos at three levels, Start, Build and Strong, beginning with seated sessions. Get the workout videos, or browse our workouts page first.
• A free video meeting (in English): talk through your habits, cravings or questions with someone who listens without judging. Book a video meeting.
• The Obesity Foundation Club: a free account to track your progress, step by step. Join the Club.

One small step for tomorrow morning: make your first coffee or tea exactly as you like it, but with half the sugar or creamer, and notice whether you miss it.