Drinking a cup of strong coffee 30 minutes before working out could burn more fat, a new study has found. The new study found that the benefits of coffee before working out was more significant in the afternoon.
Researchers from the Department of Physiology of the University of Granada (UGR) have shown that consuming caffeine half an hour before exercise significantly increases the rate of fat-burning.
The team also found that if participants drank strong coffee and then worked out in the afternoon, the fat burning effects were more prominent.
For the study, a total of 15 men, with an average age of 32, completed an exercise test four times at seven-day intervals, and drank 3 mg of caffeine – or a placebo – at 8am and 5pm.
"The results of our study showed that acute caffeine ingestion 30 minutes before performing an aerobic exercise test increased maximum fat oxidation during exercise regardless of the time of day," lead author Francisco J. Amaro-Gahete explained.
The results also showed that fat burning was also high if a workout took place in the afternoon without drinking coffee beforehand.
The study, published in the ‘Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition’, wanted to explore how effective caffeine was in helping to improve performance during exercise.
"The recommendation to exercise on an empty stomach in the morning to increase fat oxidation is commonplace. However, this recommendation may be lacking a scientific basis, as it is unknown whether this increase is due to exercising in the morning or due to going without food for a longer period of time," Amaro-Gahete added.
(Cover Media/Reuters)