Green coffee beans are coffee beans that have not yet been roasted. The roasting process of coffee beans reduces amounts of the chemical chlorogenic acid. This roasting process seems to destroy some of the healthy, natural chemicals in the beans. Therefore, green coffee beans have a higher level of chlorogenic acid compared to regular, roasted coffee beans. Chlorogenic acid in green coffee is associated to having health benefits for heart disease, diabetes, weight loss, and others.

Some research shows green coffee may help with weight loss. Studies suggest that it can reduce the absorption of carbohydrates from the digestive tract, which lowers blood sugar and insulin spikes.

In a study presented at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society, Joe Vinson, Ph.D., and colleagues described how a group of overweight or obese people who consumed a fraction of an ounce of ground green coffee beans each day lost about 10 percent of their body weight. "Based on our results, taking multiple capsules of green coffee extract a day -- while eating a low-fat, healthful diet and exercising regularly -- appears to be a safe, effective, inexpensive way to lose weight," Vinson said at the ACS meeting. He is with the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.