Luca Verroest

[J P Fanton @HealthyFellow]

Associations of habitual coffee intake with testosterone and cardiometabolic markers: the Northern Finland birth cohort 1966 study https://t.co/se9GFZoHY3

[Owen Gregorian @OwenGregorian]

Coffee linked to higher testosterone and leaner body composition in middle-aged men, with important hormonal nuance

People who drink more coffee tend to have less body fat and more skeletal muscle than lighter drinkers or abstainers, even when their BMI is similar.

Among men, higher coffee intake is also associated with higher total and bioavailable testosterone as well as higher sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG)—though it corresponds to lower levels of free testosterone.

These are the key findings from a large cross-sectional study of middle-aged adults in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, published in the European Journal of Nutrition.

Finland has the world’s highest per-capita coffee consumption (roughly 11.8 kg per person annually). Researchers analyzed 2,264 participants (1,075 men and 1,189 women) examined at age 46. Most were coffee drinkers; only 70 consumed neither coffee nor tea. Habitual intake was self-reported in cups per day and grouped as non-consumers, low (1–2 cups), moderate (3–4 cups), and high (≥5 cups). The vast majority drank filtered coffee.

Participants fasted overnight and abstained from coffee and smoking before clinical exams that included bioimpedance analysis for body composition, an oral glucose tolerance test, NMR metabolomics (164 metabolites), and direct measurement of total testosterone and SHBG, from which free testosterone and the free androgen index (FAI) were calculated.

Higher coffee intake was linked to a leaner body composition profile: lower body fat percentage, lower fat mass, lower visceral fat area, and higher skeletal muscle mass—despite nearly identical BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio across groups. This pattern is consistent with evidence that caffeine can increase metabolic rate and fat oxidation. It also aligns with a 2023 Mendelian randomization study showing that genetically predicted higher plasma caffeine levels are associated with lower BMI and whole-body fat mass, as well as reduced type 2 diabetes risk (with roughly half the effect mediated through lower adiposity).

In both sexes, higher coffee consumption correlated inversely with circulating branched-chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine). Chronically elevated BCAAs are biomarkers of insulin resistance and elevated future type 2 diabetes risk; this inverse association may be relevant to coffee’s broader metabolic associations.

Hormonal results were strongly sex-specific. In men, each additional cup of coffee per day was independently associated (in fully adjusted models controlling for BMI, education, smoking, physical activity, and alcohol) with higher total testosterone (+0.29 nmol/L), higher bioavailable testosterone, and higher SHBG, alongside lower free testosterone and lower FAI. Total testosterone rose across intake categories, with moderate and high consumers showing significantly higher levels than non-consumers.

In women (excluding those with PCOS), coffee intake was linked to higher SHBG and lower free testosterone/FAI, but showed no association with total or bioavailable testosterone.

The apparent paradox in men—higher total testosterone yet lower free testosterone—is explained by the concurrent rise in SHBG, which binds testosterone and increases the measured total while reducing the unbound (free) fraction. The researchers note that both higher total testosterone and higher SHBG have been independently linked in other large studies to lower risks of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes in men, suggesting the overall profile may be metabolically favorable.

Prior research on coffee and testosterone has been mixed, with some observational data showing inverse associations with caffeine metabolites, while acute exercise studies often show transient testosterone increases (sometimes even with decaffeinated coffee), and genetic factors such as CYP1A2 variants influence individual responses.

The study has clear limitations. Its cross-sectional design cannot establish causation or exclude reverse causation (healthier or leaner individuals might simply drink more coffee). Coffee intake was self-reported without precise volumes or details on additives. Hormones were assessed at a single time point, and testosterone varies biologically. The homogeneous Finnish sample, predominantly filtered-coffee consumers, may limit generalizability.

By pairing detailed body-composition and metabolomic data with hormone measurements in a large, well-characterized cohort, the study outlines a coherent pattern: habitual coffee drinking is associated with a leaner physique, a metabolite signature potentially favorable for insulin health, and a sex-differentiated hormonal profile most evident in men. The authors call for longitudinal and interventional studies to determine whether these associations reflect causal effects of specific coffee compounds and to clarify implications for long-term cardiometabolic health.

[Benji Naesen @BenjiNaesen]

Why does no one in these sports care about aero? #Athletics

[“paula” @paularambles]

thinking about this woman who recorded this as a workout on strava

[Luca Verroest @LucaVerroest]

@lucasaganronald @PatLefevere eens een telefoontje doen:)

[Alan Couzens @Alan_Couzens]

This should be sobering...

At age >65 ~one in ten people is in heart failure, i.e. their heart is too weak or too stiff to pump blood effectively. One in ten. 🫀

When the heart gets to this point, simply getting dressed and making your bed will push you over your anaerobic threshold! That is, acidosis will build in the muscles and you will have to sit down and recover for several minutes after!

Carrying groceries becomes the equivalent of a young person's all out sprint!

There is a simple way to avoid all of this...

Maintain a healthy, compliant, cardiovascular system, through, you guessed it...

Regular. Aerobic. Exercise. 🏃‍♂️

[ammattipyöräily @ammattipyoraily]

🇸🇮⏱️ Urska Zigart's boyfriend won Slovenian ITT title by 5:14 on 2nd placed rider.

[Luca Verroest @LucaVerroest]

@Gareth_Sandford Hello, I’m new to this concept. Is there an easy way to explain how i’d have to determine my ASR pace?:)

[T @tylerthecreator]

DOGTOOTH

[Matthias #SiempreGino @NairoInGreen]

The Jumbo-Visma design team currently sitting at home and designing the worst Tour de France jersey you've ever seen

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

@Carnage4Life I’m still confused as to how a non-profit to which I donated ~$100M somehow became a $30B market cap for-profit. If this is legal, why doesn’t everyone do it?

[Outkast @Outkast]

Roses really smell like boo boo-ooooh ooooooh 🌹🌹

[Luca Verroest @LucaVerroest]

@stijnvlaeminck https://t.co/e0fTcKP0Qr

[Ultan Coyle @ultc]

@friebos think he was far enough to the right of it

[Luca Verroest @LucaVerroest]

@Elvis2008G @INEOSGrenadiers @GeraintThomas86 @AdamYates7 Actually, they did mention he had a mechanical issue in the last K

[Luca Verroest @LucaVerroest]

@CorbenLonne1953 Filosofie mer Corben

[Luca Verroest @LucaVerroest]

@BrentGobeyn Wat eje wel gevraagd in dien taxi?