Coffee – The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Posted on 12 December 2009
Coffee is great isn’t it? it gives a mood lift, wakes you up in the morning and keeps us alert when attention is flagging. While this is all true Coffee is not all good and can do harm if not utilized correctly…
The Good
I love coffee and start every day with a brew of some sort, whether its an Espresso, French Press or Instant its something I look forward to drinking before and during my breakfast. There is nothing quite like it in terms of the bitter and satisfying taste and the warmth it seems to give to the body, plus it can clear that foggy headed AM feeling!
- Coffee is packed with Anti-Oxidants which have been proven to help fight various forms of cancer and improve general health.
- Coffee has also been proven to help with Insulin Resistance and Diabetes. Meaning it puts the carbs you eat to better use shuttling them to your muscles glycogen stores rather than your fat stores.
- It helps the release of Adrenaline. Which in moderation is a good thing, making your more alert and awake. Especially useful before a workout or to get you out of a morning slump every now and then.
- The bitter taste aids with digestion. As does anything with a strong bitterness, which signals your body to start digestion. All the more reason to drink your coffee black…..
- Memory, coffee has been shown time and time again to help those with Parkinson’s and Dementia so its pretty safe to say a daily cup will keep your mind that bit sharper!
So with all those benefits what harm can coffee do? It seems to improve our general health in several ways while tasting good and providing a nice mood and energy boost in the process…..
The Bad
Coffee on the other hand can be detrimental, when we take too much especially of a poor quality it can have a pretty stressing effect on your body and mind. It can stop you going into REM sleep, stress the adrenals and produce excess adrenaline….
- Although it is packed with anti-oxidants some say these are long gone by the time we get the coffee and are burnt out in the roast. So as with everything there are two sides to this story. I am sure coffee does have anti-oxidants but its unknown whether the health claims are overblown….
- Coffee has a half life of about 5-6 hours meaning if you had an afternoon brew with 200mg of Caffeine at 4PM you would still have 100mg flowing around your system by the time you were trying to wind down that evening. Potentially disrupting your sleep and producing adrenaline at the wrong times.
- Coffee is extremely acidic and not really what our stomachs like first thing in the morning. The stomach works best when it is settled and soothed, whereas an irritated stomach can lead to a lack of energy and take away from that feeling of calm. Best to stick to coffee after/during meals which contain a good amount of veggies and fruit.
- Fatigued adrenals are a common problem and can lead to burnout. Coffee does not help with this one bit as it stimulated the production of adrenaline and too much can be a bad thing. So if you are noticing any of the following:
- Lethargy/Feeling Heavy limbed
- Foggy headed or out of it
- Overwhelmed and inability to deal with stress
- Constant tension headaches
Then your adrenals or body in general maybe a tad run down. so this maybe a sign to back off the coffee and take things easy for a couple of weeks!
So its not all good with coffee and it does hold some pretty negative downsides especially when over consumed or drunk at the wrong times.
The Take Home
Coffee is a great tool and something we can all enjoy in moderation, it just needs to be utilized correctly. I like to stick to coffee at breakfast and occasionally mid morning, this way I get the potential anti-oxidant and fat burning kick while giving me a much needed boost in the morning. I also recommend drinking coffee around meal times as too much on an empty stomach can trigger anxiety in many people.
- Stick to Real Coffee as in Espresso’s and French Press this gets you the real deal with minimum waste and fuss, plus tastes great!
- Have a daily cup or two with breakfast, and as the Italiens say “No coffee after lunch time”
- Take a total break from Coffee when feeling burnt out
- Don’t drink coffee while fasting (if you do fast) as it exaggerates your bodies response to a stressful period.
Well thats it I am off to enjoy my Half Caf Organic French Press!
Comment by Tobi
12 December 2009
Good post Chris,
I am particularly looking forward to your pictures for every new post!
Thanks for pointing out the bad sides of coffee again, as it seems that no-one really addressed these lately in the primal community.
I personally drink my coffee with goats milk, which is especially helpful early in the morning as it soothes the acidity of coffee.
Comment by Mike - Fat Loss Tips
12 December 2009
I’ll only drink an espresso and usually it’s after a meal – call it my desert if you will. No sugar, no milk. Can’t even remember the last time I had a conventional coffee?
Mike
Comment by Jeff
12 December 2009
Hey Chris,
Great post, thanks. I can personally attest to the REM sleep issue. I didn’t start sleeping well until I dropped caffeine. I used to wake up several times at night and have trouble falling back to sleep. Even if I have the coffee at 10am it affects my sleep that night. I now limit the caffeinated coffee to a half a cup on some days and never after 9am or I will pay that night.
thanks,
jeff
Comment by Liam | EverythingZing.com
12 December 2009
Hey Chris, no chance of you giving up coffee anytime soon then?! I am a huge coffee fan but know I could probably do with drinking less of it. I have given up having it after 6pm so it doesn’t effect my sleep paterns… from 2010 mornings only!
Comment by Grok
12 December 2009
You forgot coffee is a diuretic. This could be a good or bad thing….
You also forgot about the huge amount of pesticides in the non-organic stuff.
Keeping you on your toes!
I just can’t do coffee. Always seem to overdo it (like everything else), and it crash an burns me every time. Fatigued adrenals are hard enough for me to avoid with my poor sleeping habits (have them right now). I’ll stick with teas & maté.
That said. I love everything coffee flavored except coffee itself. Ha-ha
Comment by Greg
13 December 2009
I avoided coffee for the first 35 years of life, but have recently started enjoying it as I searched for a replacement to sodas and an alternative to tea and water. I usually only go for 2-3 cups per day tops.
Comment by Studio Element Personal Training
13 December 2009
There are definitely benefits of drinking a moderate amount of coffee. Just like many other things, it can be overdone and several of the negative effects can take place.
Comment by Robin
15 December 2009
First time visiting this blog! I loved the post on coffee! I wake up sometimes in the morning craaaving it! I only use organic which I think is less acidic than regular…I also only limit myself to 1-2 cups in the AM only. I recently had a problem with my adrenals and you are so right about the symptoms of low adrenal functioning. Way to go on the post, I really enjoyed it.
Robin
Comment by Mark
16 December 2009
Are the pros and cons specific to coffee or to caffeine? Just curious how this would look for decaffeinated coffee? I drink neither, but if the benefits (and detriments) are caffeine related, that would be helpful to know.
@ Mark: The article is aimed more specifically towards coffee, but I suppose much of does apply to caffeinated beverages in general. I occasionally drink decaff coffee and think it is fine to use in moderation and shouldn’t give the jittery effect caffeinated coffee can occasionally induce…
Comment by Hugh
16 December 2009
Thanks for all the good info. I have a love/hate relationship with coffee. I can’t drink it past 10AM because the caffeine affects me all day. If I drink one cup of coffee at noon, I won’t fall asleep until 3AM, and my sleep will be very poor at that. Do you know why caffeine affects people differently? I’ve always wondered why I metabolize caffeine so slowly.
Cheers.
@ Hugh: Some people do metabolize it slower than others so that maybe the case for you. Just stick to one coffee in the morning (preferably an espresso or americano as it has less caffeine) and go for tea in the afternoon. This works for myself and many people I know.
Comment by Annette
17 December 2009
Thank you! I have been drinking coffee for years, partly because it’s self-medicating as I am slightly ADD. Believe it or not, it helps calm me down!
Another downside to drinking too much coffee is the actual withdrawal headaches – not fun!
I am glad to see an objective post on coffee – very well done!!
Comment by Coffee
18 December 2009
Nice post chris!I love coffee.i usually drink Instant coffee.Coffee works great on headaches!Thanks for sharing the good and bad effects of coffee.
Comment by Fitness Contrarian
22 December 2009
Great post. Your readers might find this helpful. Here is a list of the average caffeine levels in coffee:
- Starbucks coffee, tall 300mg
- Starbucks coffee, grande 400mg
- Starbucks coffee, venti 500mg
- Starbucks decaf coffee, tall 10mg
- Coffee, filtered drip 100mg
- Starbucks Espresso, Sols 90mg
Comment by Don
26 December 2009
So I’m going to try to give up sugar and now you want me to cut down on my coffee too? At this rate, why don’t I just move to nepal and chill the rest of my life.
Comment by Jin
23 January 2010
Good thing I do a cup of black coffee once every morning. The key is moderation,moderation,moderation!
Great post!