WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A new study from Finland has found a link between regular coffee drinking and differences in body fat, metabolism and sex hormones.
'Coffee is consumed by millions of people every day, yet we still know surprisingly little about how it relates to our metabolism and hormones. What stood out in our findings was a distinct hormonal signature that didn't disappear even after we took into account BMI and lifestyle factors, with several of these associations differing between men and women,' said lead author Luca Verroest, a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Oulu.
During the study, researchers at the University of Oulu observed 2,264 people aged 46 from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. They looked at whether regular coffee consumption was linked to substances in the blood, heart and metabolic health markers, and sex hormones.
At the end of the study, researchers found that people who drank more coffee had lower levels of total body fat and belly fat, known as visceral fat. They also had more skeletal muscle, even though their BMI was similar to that of people who drank less coffee.
Higher coffee consumption was also linked to lower levels of branched-chain amino acids in the blood in both men and women.
Men who drank more coffee had healthier glucose and insulin levels, higher levels of total and available testosterone, and higher levels of sex hormone-binding globulin. However, they also had slightly lower levels of free testosterone and free androgen index. Meanwhile, the hormone-related links were weaker in women.
The researchers said these findings suggest that changes in sex hormones may play a role in the connection between coffee consumption and metabolic health. However, the study only found an association and cannot prove that coffee directly causes these changes.
Moving forward, researchers will study whether coffee itself causes these biological changes and which compounds in coffee may be responsible.
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