So many people say to me, don’t make me give up my coffee! What’s so bad about coffee? I thought coffee was full of antioxidants that stave off inflammation and boost my metabolism. So what’s the truth, black gold or black death? Hmmm, let’s just say it’s not doing your adrenals any favors, and hormones are king, rather queen, especially once you hit—40.
Black gold. I’m not talking fossil fuel; I’m talking coffee. The brew. The aroma. Truly black gold. Well, it’s only black until I get my hands on it. Then it’s more like Hawaiian earth. I add an inch of cream and a heaping spoon of honey, or xylitol or just plain old cane sugar, organic please and voila! I have what some people have called a hot coffee milkshake. Call it what you will, it’s delicious, and until about six months ago, I couldn’t live without it. But now I know I must.
Coffee is not the simple little roasted bean you think it is. Sure it’s handsome, smells great, but it’s chock-o-block full of over 700 substances, including 200 acids, many alcohols, and other good-time ingredients like caffeine (everyone’s fave), caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and many of these thingamaboos lead to digestive upset, adrenal fatigue, high blood pressure, and nevermind the pesticide residues (if you don’t drink organic, please do, poison sucks).
So let’s talk caffeine. It’s a psychoactive drug. Hence coffee’s immense popularity. Humans love their altered states, don’t we? And decaf coffee still contains caffeine, and all the other substances I mentioned. How much? Well the average cup of joe has between 95 to 200 mg of caffeine and a cup of decaf brew falls between 9 to 14 mg, and up to 28 mg if it’s a Starbuck’s venti. A chocolate bar might have 5 mg, as a comparison. So it’s still there. Besides, decaf coffee is chemically altered and degraded, so you lose the few benefits coffee offers, like antioxidants. To make it worse, studies show decaf coffee drinkers have a higher incidence of rheumatoid arthritis. Great. There’s goes the decaf loophole. Trust me, I tried to work that angle.
Back to caffeine, what’s the problem? Caffeine equals stress. Last time I checked no one I know needs more stress. Stress, in case you’re an alien, is ugly, it makes you anxious, shaky, grumpy, mood swing-y, irritable, just plain poopy and it leads to degeneration and aging. There is even a thing called the stress-age syndrome in which the brain, endocrine (that’s your hormones) and bioenergetics systems all start to fail thanks to that six letter word… stress. Kind of makes you want to get rid of anything that causes it, don’t it.
Also caffeine and stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) drive down levels of DHEA and human growth hormone. These important “youth” hormones are already on decline from about age 25 onwards. Thank you God. Which is a major bummer because they’re the ones that keep you lean, mean and youthful. DHEA is called the vitality hormone for criminy sake! By age 70 you’re producing only about 15 percent of prime peak DHEA – and 70 is not old if you’re a Hunzan. Trust me, you don’t want to hasten the decline of your youth hormones. Hunzans didn’t and they’re world famous centenarians. In time, stress and caffeine create adrenal exhaustion. That looks like this. (blahhhhhhhh) I always say, don’t mess with hormones, support your endocrine system any way you can.
Let’s talk GABA. I love GABA because it is this amazing neurotransmitter that calms the mind without putting you to sleep. It helps you filter the noise to make good decisions. It’s the opposite of frazzle, or adrenaline, which is stimulated by ingestion of caffeine. This disrupts the normal metabolism of GABA, so you can no longer step back and see the world clearly, especially when under fire. So all you “coffee makes me alert” folks, that’s great, you’re pinning, but you may not be thinking clearly.
What about blood pressure: it’s fact, caffeine increases your blood pressure even in moderate doses to the level of borderline hypertension, and not just temporarily. It also causes vascular resistance. That is where your blood vessels constrict and blood flow is restricted. Have you ever noticed how your fingers get cold after you drink coffee? That’s vascular restriction caused by the stress response. Your body does so because if you’re attacked by a tiger, this will reduce blood loss from injuries. A good thing for all those bear maulings—don’t want to bleed out. Yah, last time I checked, I didn’t have any bloody scrapes from my cup of joe, though my body was ready for it.
What about cholesterol: they said eggs were the problem. Ha. Studies show coffee, including decaf, is associated with higher cholesterol and can increase in direct proportion to coffee consumed. There are two other chemicals in coffee, aside from caffeine, that create this effect, cafestol and kahweol. I can barely say it. Doesn’t matter, just know that stress and coffee can most certainly increase your risk of heart attack or stroke. Genetics play a role, yes there are many factors, I’m just saying if you’re prone to either of those killer diseases then truly ditch coffee, especially if you have cardiac arrhythmias.
What about your liver: it’s the only organ that detoxifies caffeine from your system and when you drink coffee an enormous amount of caffeine is dumped into your bloodstream and absorbed rapidly by every organ and your various fluids (saliva, semen, breast milk, etc.) and right across the blood-brain barrier. Plus there are other chemicals in coffee aside from caffeine, as mentioned, including some pretty little toxins called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Say that sixty times. They’re the same cancer causing little devils isolated from barbequed meat (every meat-eating man just groaned—don’t shoot the messenger). The liver must detox those as well. This sounds easy, like the body can just take this endless assault, but caffeine breaks down into 25 different by-products and each of these metabolites has its own biochemical effect on the body.
I’m exhausted. Now do you get me? Not so good for you. And trust me, I am/was as depressed as you. I liked coffee better then my husband. It’s depressing. And I didn’t even get into how coffee leaches important minerals from the body like calcium and magnesium and what it does to your gut biome. Cavewomen did not have coffee and we have the same biological make-up as them, yes, you me and a 25,000 year old woman, we’re the same, except maybe hotter, less hairy, you get me. Our genetics have not kept up with our modern processed diet, and that includes coffee.
So what to drink instead? Matcha. Cocoa. Herbal Tea. Save coffee for your once/week treat, like a glass of wine. Email me and I’ll send you my matcha recipe and soon to come Matcha Mud Mix. Go to 40girlsguide.com!
xxShannon