Coffee – do I need to give it up?

One of the most popular topics is around coffee.

 

When I start going through someone’s daily food intake, I always ask do you drink coffee, if so, how much. Nearly always the person says ” I really need to give it up” or “Are you going to tell me to give it up”?

My answer is always, “why do you think you NEED to give it up” and “I’m not going to tell you to give up anything”.

I drink coffee and I have had periods in my life when I have given it up, I’ve had periods where I have drank too much each day (and then had to take time to recover from it – more on this later) and times when it’s all quite balanced.

 

Coffee seems to be a daily essential these days and it is only a problem when you are totally reliant on it to function every single day. Symptoms include; never feeling refreshed, exhausted to the point of almost falling asleep at any moment, or not  being able to fall asleep at night.  Too much of a stimulant (alcohol / coffee / drugs) can play up with the effective working ability of your adrenal glands. The little guys located at the top of your kidneys that help to regulate your metabolism, immune system and response to stress. Too much of a stimulant depresses these guys and at some point you will most likely need to stop, rest and rest and rest and take some time out of your vice. For me it was a period of lots of work, stress and coffee and then it left me so ridiculously tired and not functioning optimally. The way I fixed it was tonnes of sleep and time, about 12 weeks. Everyone reacts differently but that’s how I learnt about balance, of all things.

Back to the coffee.

If you are having your coffee as a pre workout (the best kind), great. It will give you a big boost. If you are in control of your coffee intake each day (1 -2 regular) and it’s not after 12pm (so you can sleep at night (it takes about 6 hours for the caffeine to leave your system), then it’s probably ok.

Just know when “you can’t live without it”, I mean seriously we say that but when you are like the walking dead without it, it’s probably time to look at a few more areas than just coffee, but that might be a good start.

And to keep yourself hydrated (coffee dehydrates you), it takes about 2 cups of water.

I love the taste of my home made coffee on the stove every morning.  And as long as I keep it under control, it is staying.

Happy drinking 🙂