Do you drink one or more cups of coffee daily? Do you feel that you need the caffeine to get you started in the morning? Do you frequently crave coffee and sweets throughout the day?
Coffee can be considered one of the most widely used legal addictive substances. Many people are dependent on coffee to give them energy to keep going throughout the day. Too much caffeine stimulates your nervous system and adrenal glands and if you are an already stressed person, it can cause chronic fatigue and a condition known as adrenal fatigue overtime. This is a common condition nowadays that many people are not aware of and it can have more serious complications.
As an Oakville holistic nutritionist, I always tell my clients that coffee just gives you false energy to keep going. It’ll raise your blood sugar levels and puts you in a sympathetic nervous system mode. This is called the fight or flight response. It also stimulates your nervous system so that you get more alert and cause your heart rate and blood pressure to increase and your digestion to shut off.
Generally some people are more sensitive than others to caffeine and even a minimal dose of caffeine can be stressful to their bodies. Sensitive people usually have certain genes which don’t allow for proper detoxification causing more toxic substances to be produced in their bodies in response to caffeine.
Coffee is also hard on the stomach and it has a laxative effect. It also negatively affects the good bacteria in your colon which is important for digestion and colon health. Therefore it’s not recommended for those suffering from digestive issues.
In most cases people will take their coffee with cream and sugar and may be something sweet. This adds to the unwanted effects of coffee. Both coffee and sugar will stimulate a rise in your blood sugar and this causes the good feeling which is then followed by a rapid drop in your blood sugar which leaves you reaching for the next coffee or cookie. Sugar highs and lows overload your pancreas and can predispose you to diabetes and other hormonal imbalances.
One more thing to remember when you drink your next cup of coffee is that the coffee bean is a highly sprayed crop. This includes the hazard of pesticide exposure and toxicity which is a cause for so many chronic health issues allergies, hormonal imbalances and even cancer. Coffee is also
As an Oakville holistic nutritionist, I see many clients with chronic health issues such as blood sugar issues, chronic fatigue, digestive health issues and allergies. Most of them are dependent on coffee and can benefit from cutting it out for some time. This allows them to break their addiction and to get real energy from their food.
If you’re addicted to coffee, it’s good to consider a short coffee cleanse. After this you can decide whether coffee is something that’s good for you or not.
If you want to cut off coffee but like the coffee taste, you can try roasted grains such as roasted dandelion which have a similar taste to coffee. You can also substitute with green tea which has some caffeine and also the added benefits of the powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. Once you find other beverages that you like, most probably, you won’t want your coffee again.
Let me know your thoughts about coffee and your experience with it in the comments below.
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