The Truth About Enzyme Coffee: Can You Lose Weight With It?

On New year’s Day, during bathing suit season, and after every Thanksgiving, many of us resolve to eat less, exercise more, and shed the excess weight we’ve accumulated. A nutritious diet, calorie deficit, and hours at the gym are surefire ways to take the weight off, but we still crave a quick fix. Enter enzyme coffee.

Keep reading to learn more about enzyme coffee and whether it actually helps you lose weight.

What Is Enzyme Coffee?

Enzyme coffee claims to be a miracle weight loss solution. Every year, millions of Canadians aspire to burn off some belly fat. They are subsequently bombarded by a dizzying array of pills, shakes, meal replacement bars, and prepackaged weight-loss meals. Enzyme coffee falls in this same category.

The phrase “enzyme coffee” is, unfortunately, rather vague. Registered dietician and nutritionist Roxana Ehsani explains that enzyme coffee is a blend of powdered coffee, green coffee bean extract, green tea, chromium, yerba mate, and guarana (1). But naturopathic doctor Brian Yeung says it’s a coffee with added enzymes derived from human breast milk. Which enzymes, specifically? Well, that’s anyone’s guess (2).

Here’s a video from Dr. Brian Yeung explaining the science behind it.

Purveyors of this weight-loss miracle use walls of text and complicated biochemistry jargon to give their product the veneer of scientific legitimacy. They claim that coffee’s naturally occurring minerals and antioxidants — along with those magical enzymes — can melt away body fat, speed up metabolism, and turn your stubborn belly fat into “lean meat.” Their words, not mine.

The Truth Behind the Hype

It is impossible to determine the actual formulation of this fat-reducing enzymatic coffee, but there is some truth behind the hype. There are indeed many health benefits to drinking coffee. On top of increasing your body’s ability to burn fat during a workout, it also improves athletic performance, aids in DNA repair, and suppresses appetite, which may keep you from eating an excess amount of calories.

The added chromium in some formulations may do the same, according to registered dietician Roxana Ehsani (1).

In other words, it’s the calorie deficit and increased energy from the caffeine that facilitate weight loss, not enzymes derived from purified human breast milk.

How Do You Incorporate Coffee into a Healthy Diet?

Before embarking on any dietary change, it’s always wise to consult your healthcare provider or a licensed nutritionist.

Moreover, drinking black coffee allows you to better experience the more subtle flavour notes in your specialty brew.

If you’re partial to lattes or cappuccinos, you can use non-dairy milk alternatives and sugar substitutes to cut down on calories. Barista-style oat milk froths nearly identically to whole milk, and D-allulose, erythritol, and monk fruit are all great sugar alternatives.

Final Thoughts

Enzyme coffee is not a weight-loss miracle that melts away all excess body fat, turns fat into lean muscle, or increases metabolic rate – despite the hype. While the coffee, tea, chromium, and other herbal extracts found in some formulations have scientifically proven health benefits, it does not take the place of a healthy diet or exercise. It will, however, take the money from your wallet.

Have you tried enzyme coffee? What did you think of it? Drop us a comment below, follow us on Instagram, or connect with us in our Home Grounds Facebook group.