Women drinking coffee three times daily had lower fat mass index
People who drink coffee three times a day had more muscle mass than those who drank it less than once a day, a Korean research team said Monday, though the researchers cautioned that the study does not prove coffee directly changes body composition.
The team, led by Park Sang-min at Seoul National University College of Medicine, analyzed data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected between 2008 and 2011, the university said.
The study examined 15,447 adults aged 20 and older who had data from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DXA, scans, as well as information on how often they drank coffee.
Researchers looked at the relationship between coffee consumption and body composition indicators, including appendicular skeletal muscle mass index and lean body mass index.
Lean body mass index is based on body weight excluding fat, including muscle, bone and organs, and is used to assess how much nonfat mass a person has relative to body size.
The study found that men who drank coffee three times a day had higher appendicular skeletal muscle mass index and lean body mass index than those who drank coffee less than once a day.
Among women, those who drank coffee three times a day had lower fat mass index and higher appendicular skeletal muscle mass index and lean body mass index than those who drank coffee less than once a day.
The researchers said the findings may be related to biological mechanisms involving caffeine, including energy metabolism, fat oxidation and muscle function. But they said the study only shows an association and does not establish that coffee directly caused changes in body composition.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI. -- Ed.
hnpark@heraldcorp.com
