The Truth About Coffee’s Effects On Your Body
Coffee’s one of the most consumed beverages in the world. Some people drink it daily. Some people drink it 5 times a day. Today we’re going to be talking about all the effects that it has on your body that you would not expect. Be whoop, I’m more coffee hyped.
Most people associate coffee with the urge to go to the bathroom. And that is true for some people. The reality is that coffee affects our GI systems differently. And for some, it can actually cause constipation as opposed to diarrhea. And we’re quick to blame caffeine for this urge to go.
But the reality is we have research showing that decaf coffee has similar effects, leading us to believe that it’s actually the result of the secretion of the hormone named gastric, which actually promotes digestion.
Coffee can absolutely wreck your ability to sleep
Throughout the day, your body produces more and more adenosine, which actually binds to receptors generating a sleepy response from your body. The longer that you’re awake, the more adenosine, the more binding, and the sleepier you are. Now coffee comes in with its caffeine content and starts blocking those adenosine receptors, thereby making you feel less sleepy, thereby making it harder to fall asleep.
So its intended effect can actually become a negative effect. The caffeine can actually also impact our circadian rhythm through its effects on melatonin, which can confuse our internal clock. It’s almost like having a form of jet lag without any of the fun of travel.
Sorts of tasty things to your coffee
You can add all sorts of tasty things to your coffee, like cream, sugar, or any of this. Of course, unless you’re drinking decaf, your coffee is also loaded with caffeine. And while caffeine can be useful in waking you up and keeping you stimulated, it can also cause a jittery sensation in your body, causing you to be anxious or sweaty even. That’s because it activates the fight or flight response in the body known as the sympathetic nervous system. Research has even shown that overdoing caffeine by a small amount can increase baseline anxiety and the likelihood of panic attacks.
Absolutely impact your weight as black
Coffee can absolutely impact your weight as black coffee is nearly calorie free and actually kicks up your metabolic rate. And in fact, as caffeine stimulates the production of adrenaline, it also decreases the level of gherkin, the hormone that makes you feel hungry and your stomach growl. Gherkin? Growl? But this effect holds true even for decaf because it has been shown to increase the hormone peptide YY, which actually makes you feel satiated or full. And for intermittent fasting fans like me, research has shown that having a black cup of coffee does not break your intermittent fast and actually keeps the majority of intermittent fasting benefits there.
Coffee makes your hands feel cold
Coffee makes your hands feel cold because coffee stimulates those small glands that sit on top of your kidneys called the adrenals. They secrete adrenaline and a stress hormone known as cortisol. One of the main effects of adrenaline is to constrict blood vessels, which are not of utmost importance to your survival.
That means all the small blood vessels furthest away from the midline of your body, like in your fingertips and your toes, start getting vasoconstricted. They start getting tighter, which temporarily decreases some of the circulation to your hands, making them feel cold and look pale.
Caffeine is one of the most studied performance enhancing drugs
Because it works and has been shown to have significant benefits as long as you don’t overuse it. Focus, endurance, strength, speed have all been tested and found to have been boosted with low to moderate doses of caffeine 60 to 90 minutes before workouts and competitions. In fact, this effect is so great that the NCAA has actually set a caffeine limit for its athletes. They restrict the amount of caffeine in an athlete’s system by limiting concentrations to roughly 500 milligrams of caffeine or several cups of coffee.
Heart rate and blood pressure temporarily due
It’s no surprise that coffee does raise the heart rate and blood pressure temporarily due to the secretion of epinephrine, adrenaline. The interesting part is that the effect has been found to be true for decaf coffee as well. So another ingredient can potentially be responsible here. It’s also important to note that long term consumption does not seem to cause hypertension. The thinking is that those who consistently consume coffee actually build up a protective tolerance to it.
We’ll say though, that I have treated individuals who have gotten their blood pressure under better control by removing caffeine from their diet entirely.
Removing coffee is a double edged sword
Removing coffee is a double edged sword because it could cause withdrawal symptoms as early as 12 to 24 hours. The thought behind caffeine withdrawal headaches is that the blood vessels in the brain, which normally are kept tight and constricted due to the action of the caffeine, start to swell and cause pain. The ironic part of this is that caffeine is actually found in some common over the counter medications like Excedrin Migraine.
Is coffee dehydrating?
This one is fiercely argued on online forums. Some say yes, some say no. Here’s the truth. Coffee is a mild diuretic. It makes you pee more, makes you excrete more fluids. However, if you’re drinking a full cup of coffee, there’s fluids in there, so it replaces the fluids you lose, right? Yes. However, if you’re drinking little espressos or espresso shots in your coffee and you’re getting a ton of caffeine in there, you’re not replacing the lost fluid. And then in that case, it can be somewhat dehydrated. That being said, if you’re not overdoing it, it’s usually not enough to become a problem.
Acid reflux sufferers
My dear acid reflux sufferers, coffee can absolutely impact your acid secretion. First of all, we need to stop with this acid base obsession that has developed online. Drinking electrolyte reduced water or alkaline water is just complete nonsense. The reason coffee makes acid reflux worse is much simpler than that.
It is proven to stimulate gastrin release, which increases gastric acid secretion. And this happens because of the bitter taste of coffee that activates the type 2 bitter taste receptors in your mouth. So the bitter taste of coffee makes your body secrete more acid.
Coffee actually messes with your medications and it interacts
Coffee actually messes with your medications and it interacts with them in one of 3 ways. 1st, it affects the absorption of the medications and studies have actually shown that common over the counter meds like Ketoprofen, which is very similar to Ibuprofen, and paracetamol, which is similar to Tylenol, are significantly impacted by coffee intake.
The second is through the disruption of the metabolism of the medications through enzymes. For example, the blood levels of clozapine, lithium, warfarin, and several antidepressant drugs actually increased after the ingestion of coffee, making them more potent and potentially increasing toxicity. And the third is through the disruption of excretion of the drugs, basically how long they stick around. In fact, we’ve seen increased excretion of minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, and even water soluble vitamins like vitamin B.
As always, stay happy and healthy. There’s a ton of great comments and questions in here
