caffeine

Image: Jason Roe Dandi latte

Ok folks its time to discuss caffeine! Good timing after the last entry mentioning adrenal health...

Its a drug, the most widely used, accepted and available drug there is. Caffeine is highly addictive due to that adrenal rush you get and the perceived energy boost that results. As previously mentioned it is a false short lived high that depletes precious minerals, neutralizes stomach acid decreasing digestive capacity and weighs heavy on the liver. I often ask my clients why they drink coffee is it the taste, time to yourself or the buzz? Often the answer is "all of the above" then i ask why are you feeling fatigued, often to the point of not being able to function without it. Once weaning off or going cold turkey depending on the situation, replenishing their bodies and restoring the adrenals people report back with stories of life change. They no longer feel fatigued, anxious, bloated and have even lost a few kilos. Often times the toes is dipped back in the water, they try and have a coffee and either cannot drink it or if they do feel anxious and very ordinary for the rest of the day. The bitter taste is important in your day along with all the other tastes, sweet, astringent, pungent, sour and salty. If you leave out one taste you will crave it and possibly binge. So the taste can be easily replaced. The fatigue needs to be address with appropriate diet, lifestyle and quality supplemental and herbal advice. Time to yourself is also vital. Stay tuned for my next post suggesting some healthy alternatives to coffee and tea.

I was doing some research on the subject and this one jumped out at me. I could insert 1000 papers on different studies and effects of caffeine but felt this is relevant because chronic pain is the second most common presentation in clinic.

Pain and inflammation, an exert from medical journal:

We compared caffeine consumption by chronic back pain patients with caffeine consumption by controls. Patients were prospectively asked to complete an intake questionnaire. Daily caffeine consumption was estimated by analyzing the intake questionnaire. Differences between groups were analyzed by both normal and nonparameteric statistics. Conclusions: Patients with chronic back pain consume over twice as much caffeine as patients without chronic back pain.

McPartland, J., & Mitchell, J. (1997). Caffeine and chronic back pain. Archives Of Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation, 78(1), 61

Best intentions,