We live in a culture built around coffee – making it, drinking it, sharing it. But is it always harmless? Here’s how to know if coffee is causing a problem.
Brits love coffee. From the morning filter before we leave the house, to the flat whites with friends and the pod coffees that get us through the day, coffee is an ingrained part of life.
And for most people, it’s harmless. In fact, coffee (or the caffeine in it) can be an ergonomic aid that can improve mental and physical performance.
But what about the flipside of our relationship with coffee? Let’s look at the negative impact of coffee, how to know if it’s affecting you, and what to do instead.
My story with coffee
I’ve always been driven to improve myself. But when my energy turned to anxiety, I knew I had to help myself. After a lot of investigation, it turned out that coffee was a major contributing factor. When I stopped drinking coffee, my anxiety came to a complete stop. So I started to wonder – how exactly does coffee effect the body?
How does caffeine work?
As a compound, caffeine gets into the bloodstream quickly. And this is heightened when we consume it via liquid form – i.e. coffee. Once in the bloodstream, it travels to the liver where it is broken down into compounds that can affect different organs.
Caffeine mostly works on the brain, where it blocks the effects of the neurotransmitter adenosine (which makes you feel tired) and increases blood adrenaline levels. Perhaps the most significant thing about caffeine is how fast it works – you can feel the difference in your energy levels, mood, and focus within 15 minutes. But there’s a flipside to this – and that’s how long caffeine stays in your system.
The half-life of caffeine
“Half life” is the time it takes for a specified property to decrease by half. The half-life of caffeine is 5 hours. Does this shock you? It means that you will have half the concentration or amount of caffeine in your body 5 hours after you enjoy that flat white. Not good news if you use coffee as an afternoon pick me up.
Coffee and sleep
Coffee can be bad news for deep, restful sleep. What constitutes as “overuse” will vary greatly, but experts agree that overuse of coffee can lead to insomnia, or worsen existing insomnia. This is significant for fat loss (lack of sleep leads to cravings and can result in hundreds of extra calories eaten), as well as mood, performance, focus and productivity.
Coffee and fat loss
Caffeine isn’t all bad, so I should give a quick nod to caffeine’s known ability to support fat loss by increasing the metabolism and fat burning (by up to 13%). But you must balance this with any unwanted side effects. If caffeine is making you feel jittery, anxious, or impacting your sleep then do try taking it out of your diet to see how you feel.
If it helps, research tells us that long-term coffee drinking doesn’t make much of a difference for fat loss. This 2006 study found that coffee drinkers were on average only 0.4-0.5kg lighter than non-coffee drinks over a 12 year period!
Caffeine-induced anxiety
Caffeine is such a powerful psychoactive drug that it has been linked to caffeine-induced anxiety and even caffeine-induced psychiatric manifestations. If you already suffer with anxiety, caffeine can make them worse.
Symptoms of caffeine-induced anxiety include dizziness, nausea, headaches, sweating, restlessness, rapid heartbeat, insomnia, and anxiety. I certainly recognise lots of these from my own experience before I cut coffee out.
Caffeine isn’t just in coffee
If you want to reduce or cut out your caffeine intake, don’t forget that it’s in other things too. Fizzy drinks, tea, hot chocolate, chocolate milk, and energy drinks are all sources of caffeine. But coffee is by far the most potent source.
Tips for managing your coffee intake
1) Assess your current intake, is it more than 3 cups a day?
2) Do you feel coffee is causing a problem with mood or sleep?
3) Stop drinking coffee 6 hours before you want to fall asleep
4) Replace all or some of your caffeinated drink intake with herbal tea or squash and fizzy water
5) Go without coffee for a day or two and assess how you feel – it may be a habit!
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