Though black coffee alone would obviously not cause substantial weight loss, choosing it over your preferred sugary coffee drink will decrease total calories.

If you drink coffee, serving it black is the perfect way to lose weight. Black coffee is calorie-free-it's the cream and sugar you can pack on your pounds. A single cup of coffee with 2 teaspoons of sugar and an ounce of half-and-a-half has 72 calories.

And since the average American drinks about 3 cups of coffee a day that adds up to an extra 216 calories. If you had to switch from sugar and cream to black coffee every day for a year, you would save more than 78,000 calories-equivalent to just over 22 pounds of fat.

Caffeine can also provide some calorie-burning effects that support the weight-loss goals, but it's too soon to determine for sure. Laboratory research published in Food & Function in September 2012 showed that caffeine improved thermogenesis-a process that makes you consume more calories.

Although there's some potential for coffee caffeine to help you lose weight, you're not allowed to rely on coffee alone as a weight-loss strategy, at least before further testing is completed.

And if you drink calorie-free black coffee, you can adhere to a reasonable dose to prevent taking so much caffeine. While small amounts of caffeine can improve thermogenesis, too much may make you jittery, disrupt your sleep, and cause anxiety, depression, or rapid heart rate.

According to Mayo Clinic, up to 400 milligrams-about 4 to 5 cups of coffee a day-is the maximum upper limit for caffeine consumption. If you drink more than 3 cups a day, substitute decaf coffee for extra cups.

Some research ties coffee itself to weight loss and weight management. One study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology in April 2015, looked at dietary practices among more than 93,000 people searching for patterns between coffee intake and weight. The authors of the study found that people who drank more coffee had a lower risk of obesity and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

A laboratory animal research published in Nutrition & Diabetes in June 2014 showed that mice that consumed coffee and fed a high-fat diet gained weight more slowly than mice that did not drink coffee.

Observational tests and animal experiments do not evidence that coffee can help you lose pounds, although they indicate that it might provide weight-loss benefits.