Metabolism is the process by which your body uses food to create energy.

The higher your metabolic rate, the more calories you burn at rest.

Just like hot coffee, cold brew coffee contains caffeine, which has been shown to increase your resting metabolic rate by up to 11% (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source).

Caffeine appears to boost metabolic rate by increasing how quickly your body burns fat.

In a study in 8 men, ingesting caffeine led to a 13% increase in calorie burning, as well as a 2-fold increase in fat burning — much greater effects than they experienced after taking a placebo or beta-blocker (medication for blood pressure and circulation)

The caffeine in cold brew coffee may improve your state of mind.

Caffeine consumption has been shown to enhance mood, especially among sleep-deprived individuals (4Trusted Source).

A review of studies in over 370,000 people found that those who drank coffee had lower rates of depression. In fact, for every cup of coffee consumed per day, depression risk sank by 8% (5Trusted Source).

Some research even suggests that caffeine could be used as a nutritional supplement to boost mood and brain function in older adults.

In a study in 12 adults ages 63–74, taking 1.4 mg of caffeine per pound (3 mg per kg) of body weight improved mood by 17%. This amount of caffeine is equivalent to around two cups of coffee for the average-sized person (6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source).

Caffeine also improved their ability to react to an object moving toward them, indicating that it increases focus and attentiveness

Heart disease is a general term for several conditions that can affect your heart, including coronary artery disease, heart attack, and stroke. It’s the number one cause of death worldwide (8Trusted Source).

Cold brew coffee contains compounds that may reduce your risk of heart disease, including caffeine, phenolic compounds, magnesium, trigonelline, quinides, and lignans. These increase insulin sensitivity, stabilize blood sugar, and lower blood pressure (9Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source).

The drink also contains chlorogenic acids (CGAs) and diterpenes, which act as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents (11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source).

Drinking 3–5 cups of coffee (15–25 ounces or 450–750 ml) daily may lower your risk of heart disease by up to 15%, compared to people who don’t drink coffee (9Trusted Source).

Evidence to suggest that drinking more than 3–5 cups per day increases heart disease risk is lacking, though this effect has not been studied in people who consume more than 600 mg of caffeine per day, the equivalent of about 6 cups of coffee (9Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source).

That said, people with uncontrolled high blood pressure should avoid drinking caffeine regularly, as this may further elevate their levels (9Trusted Source).

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition in which your blood sugar levels are too high. If left untreated, it can lead to many serious health complications.

Cold brew coffee may reduce your risk of developing this disease. In fact, drinking at least 4–6 cups of coffee per day is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes (14Trusted Source).

These benefits may be largely due to chlorogenic acids, which are powerful antioxidants in coffee (11Trusted Source).

Cold brew coffee may also regulate gut peptides, which are hormones in your digestive system that control and slow digestion, keeping your blood sugar stable (11Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).

One study in over 36,900 people ages 45–74 found that those who drank at least 4 cups of coffee per day had a 30% lower risk of type 2 diabetes than individuals who didn’t drink coffee daily (16Trusted Source).

A review of 3 large studies in more than 1 million people found that those who increased their coffee intake over 4 years had an 11% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, compared to a 17% higher risk in those who reduced their coffee intake by more than 1 cup per day (17Trusted Source).

lso improved their ability to react to an object moving toward them, indicating that it increases focus and attentiveness

In addition to increasing your attentiveness and mood, cold brew coffee may benefit your brain in other ways.

Caffeine stimulates your nervous system and may affect how your brain functions.

One recent study observed that drinking coffee can protect your brain from age-related diseases (18Trusted Source).

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases are neurodegenerative conditions, which means they are caused by brain cell death that occurs over time. Both illnesses can result in dementia, a decline in mental health that makes daily activities difficult.

Alzheimer’s disease is marked by significant memory impairment, while Parkinson’s often causes physical tremors and stiffness (19).

One observational study found that people who drank 3–5 cups of coffee per day during mid-life had a 65% lower risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s in old age (20Trusted Source).

Another observational study noted that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease. In fact, men who drink more than four cups of coffee per day are five times less likely to develop this condition (21, 22).

It appears that several compounds in coffee, such as phenylindanes, as well as harman and nonharman compounds, provide protection against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease (18Trusted Source, 23Trusted Source, 24Trusted Source, 25).

Keep in mind that decaffeinated coffee doesn’t appear to offer the same protective benefits as caffeinated varieties (22).

SUMMARYCold brew coffee contains compounds called phenylindanes, as well as lower amounts of nonharman and harman compounds. These can help protect your brain from age-related diseases.