Coffee

I came home one day to find my friend rolled up in a ball on the sofa, puffing and blowing air looking distressed. I asked him what was wrong but he wasn’t sure. So I asked him what he had been up to today. “went for a coffee with John, got a nice quadruple espresso in starbucks, then we went for a walk etc etc…” As soon as he said it alarm bells went off in my head. I couldn’t understand how he didn’t realise it was the coffee that had him feeling depleted of energy 4 or 5 hours later.

There’s something about sipping on a hot cup of the black stuff that makes the day a little bit better. Maybe it’s just because you’re taking a moment to yourself or with a friend, or maybe it’s the physiological effect it has on the body. Either way, people seem to love it. But does it come without a downside? As is the case with most good things in life, the answer seems to be no (in some cases at least).

As most people know, coffee contains a stimulant called caffeine. This is what is responsible for that feeling of extra energy/motivation/alertness that comes following consumption. Whilst this is a positive thing for most people, in that they are getting more done, able to work harder in physical exercise and are more mentally alert, overconsumption can lead to the turning off of one’s body’s own energy production systems; in particular, the adrenal glands. Basically, your body eventually begins to rely of the caffeine to give you an energy kick! We therefore also grow immune to its effects, and this can lead to a vicious circle of drinking more coffee and in turn needing more.

It is also worth considering that not all coffee is created equal. The major coffee chains tend to use lower quality coffee beans that are cheaper to produce, which also tend to be heavily sprayed and contains a lot of moulds and toxins. Our body’s detoxification systems deal with this, but again, overconsumption can lead to our detoxification systems being overtaxed and eventually failing. Not only that, but the detoxification process causes our energy production system to downregulate, to allow the detox system to work, causing the ups and downs in energy that a lot of people seem to experience within a few hours of drinking coffee.

Smaller speciality coffee shops tend to deal with seasonal coffee beans, from farms that they trust. Although these may be more expensive for the supplier and the consumer, it is worth it for a better quality of coffee. In many cases, changing to drinking a higher quality coffee will help you avoid those up and downs that can come with a regular coffee. Plus they taste 100 times better! (therefore not needing 3 teaspoons of sugar; another side benefit!)

So what can we take away from this?
Try to have coffee only occasionally, when you need the extra boost for an important task or a busy day, or at the very least, take a day or two per week where you don’t have any coffee, to let your body to use it’s own adrenal system.
Drink higher quality coffee. Spend a little bit extra and go to the higher quality coffee shop. There are more and more popping up all over the place! It will be worth it to avoid the moulds and toxins found int he coffee from the worldwide corporation coffee shops. Even save a bit of money by buying high quality beans and learning how to brew coffee at home!

Hope that helps!

Conor, Know Yourself Nutrition

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