What About Coffee/Caffeine?

There is a striking photo series in a health book by the Seventh Day Adventists. It is a book on healthy living. In the first photo, scientists had taken a picture of a spider’s web. It was beautiful and symmetrical—a truly lovely work of art. The next picture showed what happened to the web after scientists injected the spider (ouch!) with the equivalent of two cups of coffee. The web was a total disaster—a complete mess. Could the same thing be happening to our brains?

You can read the information from British nutritionist Patrick Holford (www.holfordhealth.com). He says that consuming 100 mg of caffeine a day can lead to withdrawal symptoms, including fatigue, low mood, irritability, and headache, when you stop. Interestingly, a small, 8-ounce cup of coffee can contain less than 100 mg of caffeine, while a large cup of designer coffee (such as a large latté) can have as much as 500 mg—five times the addictive dose.

Clearly, you already know about the addictive nature of caffeine. But you may not know the reason why you’re hooked on the stuff. According to Holford, research shows that coffee drinkers don’t actually feel any better than people who don’t drink it, they just feel better than they did when they woke up. In other words, the coffee merely relieves the withdrawal symptoms of caffeine.

One particular study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry observed 1,500 psychology students, dividing them into four categories depending on their coffee intake—abstainers, low consumers (one cup, or equivalent, a day), moderate consumers (one to five cups a day), and high consumers (five or more cups a day). The moderate and high consumers were found to have higher levels of anxiety and depression than the abstainers. Further, the high consumers had the greatest incidence of stress-related medical problems, as well as lower academic performance.

Holford also reported that the more caffeinated drinks a person consumed, the more tired they were. The other complaints most correlated with increasing caffeine consumption were menopausal symptoms, reduced libido, and joint stiffness. There are a host of other health problems associated with regular coffee drinking, including hardening of the arteries (leading to increased risk of heart attack), increased homocysteine level (a predictor of heart attack and stroke), and heightened risk of cardiovascular disease, arthritis, cancer, and other inflammatory conditions.

And what about sleep? Turns out that regular coffee drinkers produce only half the melatonin of non-coffee drinkers. Melatonin is the chemical in your brain that regulates your body’s sleep rhythm. Research conducted at Tel Aviv University found that volunteers given coffee slept an average of two hours less than those drinking decaf. The melatonin-depressing effects of caffeine can last for up to 10 hours, so if you want to sleep well tonight, my suggestion is to eliminate or slow down on the coffee drinking.

Caffeine-Free Morning Boost

So, now that you know how those two or three cups of coffee can affect your body, how can you get off the stuff? One reason why most people don’t rush out and give up their multiple cups of daily coffee is because the alternatives don’t seem so hot. Who wants to wind up feeling lousy for several days while going through withdrawal? And how can you wake up your brain after a night of insufficient sleep?

Let’s first deal with the withdrawal. It takes about four days to break the caffeine habit. The easy way to do it is to just start drinking fewer cups of coffee. But, don’t think that switching to decaf is a good idea. According to Holford, it isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be:

“Coffee contains three stimulants—caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline. Although caffeine is the strongest of these stimulants, theobromine has an effect similar to caffeine (although it’s present in much smaller amounts in coffee), while theophylline is known to disturb normal sleep patterns. “But don’t think you can simply switch to decaf. While it doesn’t contain caffeine, decaffeinated coffee does contain the stimulants theobromine and theophylline. Plus, unhealthy chemical solvents are often used to remove the caffeine.”

Chemical solvents? Why would you want to put those in your body, on top of everything else? I say nix the decaf and try other hot drinks that give a more quietly sustained boost, such as yerba mate, and green or rooibos (red bush) tea.

Another option is a beverage called Teeccino, an herbal coffee that tastes and brews just like regular coffee (really!). It is made of roasted carob pods, barley, chicory root, dates, figs, and almonds—and it’s totally caffeine-free. Plus, it’s rich in vitamins and other nutrients that can help keep your energy up while you’re weaning yourself off of caffeine. You can find Teeccino at most health food stores, or by visiting www.teeccino.com.

To minimize the withdrawal effects of stimulants like caffeine, many doctors and nutritionists also advise vitamin C, B-complex vitamins, calcium, and magnesium. These nutrients regulate your blood sugar level. Also, the amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine can act like caffeine by providing a burst of energy, but don’t have the addictive properties of caffeine. You can find these in health food stores.

The Breakfast With the Most

The other thing you ought to do is what just about every health expert in the universe advises—eat a substantial breakfast. Start your system with the fuel it needs, rather than a bunch of caffeine and sugar. Try my really simple, healthy and alkalizing breakfast—just cut a cucumber, a tomato, and an avocado into bite-size chunks. Add your favorite fresh herbs and/or a little Himalayan Salt, maybe a little olive oil or lemon juice—and voila, you have a super-healthy, super-fast breakfast. Or at the very least, stop at your favorite juice bar on the way to work for a healthy green juice, rather than coffee. Having vegetables for breakfast is much more of a mental hurdle than a physical one. Once you try it and feel the sustained energy you have, you’ll be hooked on the idea!

Exercise at WHAT Time?

You may moan and groan over my next bit of advice, but it is so great and so worthwhile that I’m going to tell you anyway—exercise. Since I started a regular exercise routine, it’s amazing how much more sustained energy I have throughout the day. But, you can also use exercise as a jump-start when you need it.

I sincerely hope you can find a way to extricate yourself from coffee addiction. It’s so much better!

What About Coffee/Caffeine

Thersa Sharp

2005-11-25