People who drink more coffee tend to carry less body fat, more muscle, and show distinct hormonal patterns compared to lighter coffee drinkers, according to new research from Finland.
Researchers at the University of Oulu analyzed data from 2,264 people, all 46 years old, who were part of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. The team looked at how participants' usual coffee intake connected to circulating metabolites, cardiometabolic risk markers, and sex hormone levels. The findings were released August 19, 2026, and reported by Science Daily.
Participants who drank more coffee had lower total body fat and less visceral fat, along with greater skeletal muscle mass. These differences held even though high-intake and low-intake coffee drinkers had similar body mass index scores. BMI alone did not account for the gap.
Higher coffee consumption was also associated with lower blood levels of branched-chain amino acids in both men and women. When chronically elevated, these amino acids have previously been linked to insulin resistance and a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The hormonal findings differed between men and women. In men, greater coffee consumption was associated with a more favorable glucose-insulin profile, higher levels of total and bioavailable testosterone, and greater concentrations of sex hormone-binding globulin. Free testosterone and the free androgen index were modestly lower. In women, the hormonal associations were less extensive. Higher coffee consumption was mainly associated with increased sex hormone-binding globulin and lower measures of free androgens.
"Coffee is consumed by millions of people every day, yet we still know surprisingly little about how it relates to our metabolism and hormones," said Luca Verroest, lead author of the study and Doctoral Researcher at the University of Oulu. "What stood out in our findings was a distinct hormonal signature that didn't disappear even after we took into account BMI and lifestyle factors, with several of these associations differing between men and women."
Earlier research has connected coffee drinking to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but the biological processes behind those links are not fully understood. This study adds detail to that picture without establishing a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
