How coffee affects your muscle mass: New study results and practical tips

This news will make all coffee lovers smile (and grow):

A recent study by Zhang and colleagues (so recent that it is still in the pre-print phase) examined the influence of coffee consumption on muscle mass.

For this purpose, the authors used a dataset from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of the United States of America, which includes data from 8,125 subjects from the period 2011–2018.

Are you as excited as we are? We don't want to keep you in suspense for too long and will tell you the result straight away:

The scientists found a positive correlation between coffee and caffeine consumption and muscle mass. This effect was particularly pronounced in the 30-49 age group. However, the data set did not contain any data from subjects over 60 years of age.

Bad news for anyone who has overdone it with the bulking phase: Being overweight seems to negate the positive effects of coffee consumption on muscle mass.

The suspected underlying mechanisms are diverse and range from stimulated autophagy (the self-cleaning process of our cells) to improved insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake. However, further research is needed to uncover causality.

Of course, the authors are aware of the limitations of their study. For example, they do not take into account that coffee contains various other bioactive substances in addition to caffeine. It is striking that, apart from the title and introduction, the study always talks about caffeine - and not about coffee.

Be that as it may, it is well known that dietary protein promotes muscle mass and maintenance. We wonder what it looks like when you combine coffee and protein - for example with our Milk Protein Coffee in the practical 250 ml can. As the saying goes, two is better than one.

With real coffee and a whopping 25 g of protein per can, our Milk Protein Coffee must, at least in theory, have a doubly anabolic effect.

Can the observed effect be achieved not only by the mixture of coffee, but also by caffeine in its pure form? Then you will find one or two caffeine-containing energy bombs in our online shop that not only wake you up, but (according to Zhang et al.) could also have a positive effect on your muscle mass.