Caffeine can superpower your workouts. Caffeine blocks a neurotransmitter called adenosine, which increases the release of dopamine and norepinephrine, making you feel more awake and energized. If you’re too tired to exercise, having some coffee or other caffeinated beverage can give you the boost you need to get moving. Studies have shown that caffeine before a workout can increase your performance by 11-12%. Caffeine can help you burn fat. By increasing epinephrine (adrenaline), caffeine promotes the release of fatty acids from fat tissue. This tells your fat cells to break down and release fat into your bloodstream. However, this won’t necessarily help you lose weight by itself. It’s more effective to make changes to your diet and exercise regimen. Caffeine boosts your metabolism. Caffeine can increase your resting metabolic rate by 11-12%. However, the effects have been shown to decrease with age and are less pronounced in people who are obese. Caffeine can reduce your appetite. Caffeine can reduce feelings of hunger, but only for a short period of time. Having hot coffee or caffeinated tea before or with your meal may make you feel full sooner and less likely to overeat. However, this is not a given and some willpower is required to eat less (and more nutritious foods) over time in order to lose weight. Any weight loss effects are not long-term. People build up a tolerance to the effects of caffeine (as with any drug), so using caffeine by itself for long-term weight loss is not an effective strategy. For short-term benefits, incorporate caffeine into your weight-loss efforts every other two weeks (ie. two weeks on, two weeks off) to keep your body from building a tolerance.