Step aside, cold plunge pools. Move over, keto diet. There’s a new viral trend in town.
The coffee loophole diet is all over the internet, especially on TikTok. But, what is it? How do you do it? Does it really work? And how exactly did your morning coffee turn into a “loophole” in your own health and fitness? As a personal trainer and nutritionist, I have many clients become intrigued by the latest diet trends, and I stress to them that being fully aware of the benefits and downsides is essential.
In this article, we’ll dive deep into the coffee loophole diet to find out how (and if) it works. Come along for the ride!
What is the coffee loophole diet?
The “coffee loophole” is a strategy that’s recently been trending on social media. It isn’t a diet so much as a simple trick that claims to help you lose weight and manage hunger and cravings. Here’s the basic idea: when you feel hungry, immediately drink coffee.
Influencers and wannabe influencers recommend specific combinations of ingredients to include in your coffee to get the most benefit. Lemon, honey, and cinnamon are commonly included, although the reason is unclear; cayenne pepper or capsaicin, which have been proven to increase your metabolism and help you lose weight, are often added as well.
However, the major ingredient is chromium, which has weight loss benefits of its own — a recent review and meta-analysis said, “Chromium supplementation was associated with some improvements in body composition in subjects with obesity,” although further study is needed to understand how much effect chromium really has.
How do you follow the coffee loophole diet?
The system most influencers are recommending is to drink coffee, with some mixture of additions, within seven seconds of feeling hungry. They claim this will reduce hunger and cravings and trick your body into feeling full.
Obviously, doing this consistently is challenging. You can’t make coffee in seven seconds, so you need to have coffee sitting next to you, ready to go. It’s better to use iced coffee than hot coffee since it’s easier to keep beside you for a long time without losing its temperature. You also should usually avoid drinking coffee after lunch, so this hack can only be used for part of the day.
Perhaps the most difficult part of the coffee loophole diet is the requirement to pay attention. You have to be very aware of your bodily sensations in order to drink the coffee within seven seconds of feeling hungry. And if the diet doesn’t work for you, you might start blaming yourself for not noticing hunger soon enough, which is probably counterproductive, as we’ll see.
What restrictions does the coffee loophole diet have?
The coffee loophole diet doesn’t have any restrictions. It’s more like a life hack or even a supplement than it is like a diet since it doesn’t involve changing what you eat, just drinking coffee in a particular way, with specific timing.
Does the coffee loophole diet have any real benefits?
Some of the ingredients in a “coffee loophole” coffee can help you lose weight. Cayenne pepper or capsaicin can boost your metabolism and help you lose weight, plus, the peppers are rich in antioxidants. Lemon and honey are mostly just there for taste, but you can get some serious benefits from chromium. The coffee itself also has antioxidant effects, and caffeine can also help boost your metabolism to lose weight.
With all that stated, many of these ingredients can also be found in weight loss supplements — in higher quantities, along with an assortment of other ingredients. In other words, the “coffee loophole” is a less convenient, less effective version of a regular weight loss supplement.
Also, there’s no evidence to support the claim that drinking coffee within seven seconds of feeling hungry will reduce cravings. The seven-second number is arbitrary, and there’s no science suggesting that coffee is particularly good at making you feel full, no matter what’s added to it. It might reduce your hunger briefly since coffee contains some calories, especially with cream, sugar, or honey. However, that’s only temporarily satisfying your hunger, sort of like a small snack. There’s no magic and no loophole here.
Some of the most clickbaity claims that influencers are making — like that this hack “melts away pounds” or that it’s “so much easier than going to the gym” — are especially egregious. Nothing will help you miraculously lose weight without any effort. And even if this could make you feel less hungry or speed up your metabolism, science has long shown that diet and exercise together are far more effective for losing weight than either on their own, so it’s still no substitute for hitting the gym or getting your steps in.
What are the downsides to this method?
The coffee loophole is a particularly stressful way to try to lose weight. You must drink coffee with these ingredients within exactly seven seconds of the first hint of hunger. If the system doesn’t work for you, other practitioners will probably tell you it’s because you must not have done it quite right, even though there’s no evidence it works at all.
Trying the coffee loophole might not do any real harm, but it can also distract you from finding weight-loss methods that actually work for you. Better food habits or learning to exercise effectively are much more important than quick fads that don’t work, and if you focus on viral internet weight-loss schemes, you might lose sight of the most important ways you can actually impact your health.
Frequently asked questions
What is the coffee trick to speed up metabolism?
Caffeine can speed up your metabolism, whether you’re getting it from coffee, tea, an energy drink, or a weight loss supplement. This can help you lose weight, but it’s not related to the coffee loophole.
What spices are people adding to coffee to lose weight?
The main spice that might help you lose weight is cayenne pepper, but people also add cinnamon, lemon, and honey. Most of these ingredients contribute more to flavor than they do to health.
What is the Jennifer Anniston coffee loophole recipe?
Jennifer Anniston adds collagen to her morning coffee, along with a touch of cinnamon and sometimes honey or maple syrup for a sweetener. She also uses less water, creating a more concentrated brew. Her recipe is mostly unrelated to the coffee loophole people are buzzing about online.
