Green Coffee Bean Extract !Edited By Stephanie Dawson
When coffee seeds or beans are roasted their antioxidant levels increase, but one natural substance called chlorogenic acid decreases. This chemical is thought to block fat accumulation, boost weight loss, curb carbohydrate absorption, and help regulate post-meal blood sugar levels. In addition, green coffee extract does not taste or smell like coffee, a benefit for those who don’t enjoy java.
“Green coffee” refers to the raw or unroasted seeds (beans) of Coffea fruits. Coffee beans are actually green seeds inside a bright red berry. Roasting them turns the seeds brown and creates the characteristic aroma and flavor coffee lovers crave. To create green coffee bean extract, the seeds are left unroasted. Instead, they’re soaked then concentrated to create the extract. Researchers claim green coffee bean extract can help with weight loss, and the supplement has generated a lot of buzz.
For hundreds of years “hot” weight-loss supplements have come and gone, including bitter orange, chromium picolinate, CLA, hoodia, yerba mate, raspberry ketones, and now green coffee bean extract. Each has been touted as an effortless way to shed pounds, by either boosting metabolism, mobilizing body fat, or suppressing appetite, but as a health page, it’s our job to be skeptical and ask the right questions: does it really work, what’s the evidence supporting these findings, and, above all, is it safe?
Honestly, the evidence is pretty scant. One 2012 study made a big splash when it instructed their subjects to take a daily dose of 500 mg to 1500 mg of Green Coffee Bean extract for a period of 12 weeks. At the end of the study, participants lost about 16 pounds in six weeks, about 4% of which was body fat. Moreover, none of the participants reported any side effects. However, the study was criticized because it involved such a small number of subjects, only 16, and it was funded by a green coffee bean extract manufacturer. An independent analysis of three randomized clinical trials that included a total of 142 participants concluded that the effect of green coffee extract is only moderate at best, and the studies were poorly conducted.
For us this the million-dollar question is “Is it safe?” because even if something works for weight loss, it’s not worthwhile if it creates other unwanted side effects. In this case the answer is: it depends. It is important to understand that green coffee contains caffeine, similar to regular coffee. Therefore, green coffee can cause caffeine-related side effects similar to coffee.
Caffeine can cause insomnia, nervousness and restlessness, stomach upset, nausea and vomiting, increased heart and breathing rate, and other side effects. Consuming large amounts of coffee might also cause headache, anxiety, agitation, ringing in the ears, and irregular heartbeats. Unfortunately there is no standardization when it comes to supplements. In other words, manufacturers don’t have to follow a specific formula, so one green coffee extract product could be made completely differently than another, and one brand could contain significantly more caffeine than the bottle next to it.
There is not enough information to know if green coffee is safe during pregnancy or breast-feeding. Avoid using it to be on the safe side. The caffeine in green coffee might make anxiety worse, will flush out calcium in the body and thus increase the risk for osteoporosis, it may also make bleeding disorders worse. For glaucoma patients, the caffeine contained in green coffee can increase pressure inside the eye. The increase starts within 30 minutes and lasts for at least 90 minutes. The caffeine found in green coffee might increase blood pressure in people with high blood pressure, however, this effect might be less in people who consume caffeine from coffee or other sources regularly.
Green Coffee Supplement Study, National Library of Medicine Green Coffee Bean Project, Doctor Oz Caffeine & Weight Loss, Mayo Clinic
