Coffee isn’t just morning fuel for people who need that extra boost of energy after working long hours. Coffee contains nutrients, and it offers health benefits such as boosting your energy levels and promoting weight loss.

But did you know that not all kinds of coffee are good for you?

To make your coffee-drinking habit healthier, try simple hacks such as using filtered water or drinking bulletproof coffee.

Here’s why a cup of joe is good for you

Believe it or not, a lot of the nutrients in coffee beans end up in your daily cup of joe. One cup of coffee contains:

• 11% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for riboflavin or vitamin B2
• 6% of the RDI for pantothenic acid or vitamin B5
• 3% of the RDI for manganese and potassium
• 2% of the RDI for magnesium and niacin or vitamin B3

The total amount of these nutrients add up, especially if you enjoy more than one cup of coffee on a regular basis. Drink up!

Coffee boosts your energy levels and improves brain function

When you’ve had an all-nighter, drinking coffee can help you feel less tired and boost your energy levels because of caffeine. This stimulant is also the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance in the world.

After enjoying a cup of coffee, caffeine is absorbed into your bloodstream. Once you ingest caffeine, it then travels to your brain where it helps block the inhibitory neurotransmitter adenosine.

After blocking adenosine in your brain, the amount of other neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and dopamine increases, which then causes the enhanced firing of neurons.

Findings from controlled studies in humans suggest that consuming coffee helps boost different aspects of brain function, from energy levels, memory, mood, reaction times, vigilance,  and general mental function.

Coffee can help burn body fat

Caffeine is often used as an ingredient in commercial fat-burning supplements because it is one of the few natural substances that efficiently promotes fat burning.

Data from studies published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism have found caffeine helps boost your metabolic rate by 3 to 11 percent.

Research also suggests that caffeine may boost fat burning by at least 10 percent in people who are obese and about 29 percent in lean people. Researchers note that the fat-burning benefits of caffeine may be diminished in long-term coffee drinkers.

Coffee can help boost your physical performance

The caffeine in coffee helps stimulate the nervous system and signals fat cells to break down body fat. The stimulant also boosts epinephrine or adrenaline levels in your blood.

Adrenaline is known as the fight-or-flight hormone that prepares your body for intense physical exertion.

To boost your physical performance during your workout, enjoy a strong cup of coffee at least 30 minutes before you go to the gym.

How to make a healthier cup of joe

Coffee is considered a superfood, but that doesn’t mean anything with coffee in it is good for you. To make sure your coffee habits offer health benefits, try some of the tips and hacks below.

Don’t drink coffee on an empty stomach

Picture this: You’re late for work and you have no time to eat a balanced breakfast, so you compromise by chugging a cup of joe. What’s the problem here?

Adina Pearson, a registered dietitian, cautions that while drinking coffee is healthy, you shouldn’t treat it as a meal replacement because of its ability to suppress your appetite. She added that coffee’s stimulant properties can make you forget that you’re under-eating.

Pearson concludes that to maintain overall well-being, you need to enjoy your cup of coffee with healthy foods rich in various nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

Reconsider if coffee is the best drink for you

Coffee consumption must be balanced with good sleeping habits. Pearson warns that you shouldn’t use coffee to stay awake if you are constantly sleep-deprived.

You need to rest and recharge so your mind can be sharp and your body is energized for the next day. If you have bad sleeping habits, you must work towards improving your sleep habits instead of drinking too much coffee.

Suffering from chronic sleep deprivation can increase your stress hormones and make you more likely to suffer from various health problems.

Stay hydrated with sparkling coffee

Curb your caffeine cravings with a sparkling coffee, which is made by combining cold brew with natural ingredients like lemon juice and organic cane sugar.

Sparkling coffee also contains antioxidants, electrolytes and less caffeine than a regular cup of joe. Just make sure you avoid products with added sugar or artificial sweeteners.

Try bulletproof coffee

Bulletproof coffee is touted as a “healthier” version of coffee because it contains a bit of butter and coconut oil, two ingredients that have medium-chain fats that may improve your blood lipids by lowering triglycerides and raising HDLs (high-density lipoprotein).

Ken Immer, president and chief culinary officer at Culinary Health Solutions, CCHE, said that fats from the butter and coconut milk work together to “prime” your energy pump every morning. Adding these ingredients to your coffee helps boost your mental clarity.

When making bulletproof coffee at home, use grass-fed butter to give your drink a nutrient boost.

Enjoy your coffee with a dash of cinnamon

Adding cinnamon to your coffee also gives your drink an antioxidant boost. Several studies have found that cinnamon can help lower blood sugar.

As a bonus, using spices like cinnamon makes your coffee sweeter naturally and without adding extra calories. How’s that for managing your sugar intake?

Use filtered water when making coffee

Tap water may contain chlorine disinfection byproducts that are linked to negative side effects.

While chlorine can kill pathogenic bacteria, consuming chlorinated water can also harm the friendly bacteria in your gut, where 70 percent of the immune system operates. Studies have found that a lack of beneficial gut bacteria is linked to health problems like obesity, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer.

Using filtered water for your coffee doesn’t just improve the taste, it also helps eliminate harmful heavy metals like lead or copper that from old pipes.

Make coffee at home

Brewing coffee at home doesn’t just help you save money, it also protects you from harmful chemicals that may end up in your morning latte.

Baristas at coffee shops wipe down steamers before preparing your latte, but they may also be adding unwanted ingredients in your drink, like sanitizing solution.

Stop using your Keurig

Keurigs may be convenient, but are you willing to sacrifice a cup of coffee for the environmental damage and tons of plastic waste produced by these machines?

Like that (unwanted) extra shot of sanitizing solution in your coffee shop latte, Keurigs produce coffee that’s exposed to heated plastic and dirty machines. You can’t totally clean the water tanks in a Keurig since they can never truly be flushed and cleaned, and this means your coffee might also come with a heaping serving of mold and bacteria growth.

Use paper filters

Using paper filters is key to making your coffee habits healthier. Recyclable paper filters help remove two compounds: Cafestol and kahweol.

These two compounds raise both total and LDL (low-density lipoprotein) or bad cholesterol levels.

Use organic ingredients to make your coffee (and skip the sugary syrups)

Creamers contain artificial flavors, sweeteners and other additives. And nonfat, flavored syrup may seem like a good choice, but low-calorie doesn’t always mean good for you.

If you really want to have a healthy cup of coffee, skip the sweeteners and use organic cream. Alternatively, you can make non-dairy milk with oats or nuts.

Try sustainable coffee

For a real cup of coffee with a conscience, switch to sustainably sourced beans. Buying fair trade or coffee with other certifications helps third-world farmers.

You can also replace single-serve packaged coffee creamer, milk and sugar with refillable dispensers to reduce the plastic waste that you produce. Before you head out to that coffee shop by the corner, why not take a second to make your own coffee at home and help save the planet one cup of joe at a time?

Now that you’ve learned about 11 different ways to make a healthier cup of joe, start your morning right with coffee, a nutrient-rich drink that’s best enjoyed with a healthy breakfast.

Sources:

TheHealthy.com

Healthline.com

FoodRevolution.org