The Coffee problem! By Bjorn

You may remember that Bjorn challenged me to give up coffee. He said that coffee has detrimental effects on people's health. I asked him to write a blog post explaining his take on the coffee problem and here it is.


(Note: Bjorn sent this to me as a word document. I have had all sorts of trouble with the formatting and trying to get the post up. As such some pieces of Bjorn's original post have been left out. These pieces included a wonderful picture of Bjorn's Oma (Grandmother), and a mind map/flowchart that Bjorn made as a support to his information. If you would like a copy of the flowchart, email me and I will email you this post in word format. I don't feel that I have weakened Bjorn's post in any way by leaving these pieces out and I'm sure you'll agree his post makes for interesting reading.)
 
From Bjorn.....

Coffee….Why-Oh-Why Can’t We Just Be Friends?

I intended on writing a long-winded, ‘science based’ document heavy with references, waying up the pros and cons of the xanthine alkaloid ‘caffeine’ found in coffee beans, and other plant sources. I thought I would summarise the biochemistry of caffeine and its impact on the human body in one concise document to assist the reader in putting together an educated decision, potentially answering the question as to whether or not coffee was for them, once and for all. But for that info you could just click here, or here. Instead of referencing studies on caffeinated beverages such as coffee and green tea (which are generally rubbish due to big-bucks and business getting in the way) I decided to write a piece on my personal and clinical experience with the delicious beverage.

I should say from the outset I LOVE COFFEE! She’s like a seductive succubus that comes and goes from my life. Every time she arrives, I fall madly in love. Then, when the party’s over, I want more. And if I don’t get her, I get withdrawals in the form of headaches and apathy. I also have a strong childhood connection to happy times spent with my European family enjoying coffee and cake in the afternoon. Oh the memories…

But enough about me….

As we know in this forum, the best way to gauge your health is to pay attention as to how you Look, Feel and Perform. “But!?” you say, “when I’m drink coffee, I don’t look much different”. Unless I haven’t had my daily coffee, in which case I look tired and grumpy, and what the hell are you looking at anyway!?. “I don’t feel any different!?”. Unless I haven’t had my morning coffee. Then I feel like crap – I’ll have a double ristretto thanks. “I don’t perform any different”. Unless I haven’t had my coffee, in which case I really couldn’t be bothered performing at all!….Hang on a second….this sounds like some kind of dependence….doesn’t it?

I don’t care what anyone says, coffee is damn addictive, and I believe giving it up is harder than other habits for a number of reasons.

1. It tastes and smells great (Cigarettes do not. Yet coffee and a ciggie – a delight).

2. It’s more than just socially acceptable. It’s a means of being social (“we should catch up, grab a coffee!?”)

3. It integrates itself into our daily routine nicely. (The term ‘smoko’ really is a cover for that mid-morning/afternoon coffee hit to get through that hypoglycaemic episode of the day. Nobody actually smokes anymore!? Its coffee and facebook now isn’t it?).

4. It has fairly subtle but unpleasant withdrawals. (You feel tired, foggy-headed and incomplete. Grumpiness and headaches are so easily relieved by that hot, invigorating, socially acceptable, tasty beverage).

In my clinical and personal experience, albeit limited, I have noticed people who consume coffee daily, or who have an addiction, whether its drugs, medications, tabacco, or refined carbohydrates - 

- are more tired and irritable when they haven’t had their ‘hit’

- tend to have higher levels of anxiety and stress, especially if they already have a psychological condition.

- have altered behaviour such as impatience and intolerance. I call it “Road-Ragey”. (This Behaviour video posted in an earlier blog describes this phenomenon in relation to hypoglycaemia).

- have a greater propensity towards skin issues (psoriasis, eczema, hormonal acne etc).

- have trouble reaching body composition goals (unless your Kate Moss. in which case stick with the champagne, cocaine, caffeine and nicotine).

On a kind of funny-not-so-funny side note. There are many tribes around the world that coffee is an integral part of their culture. For example, the tribes of the Omo valley (Suri, Mursi, Nyangatom etc) in Ethiopia love a good cuppa. They also live on sorghum, beer from sorghum, milk and blood from cattle, with meat generally saved for special occasions. These tribes all appear to be happy and healthy as long as draught hasn’t led to famine. They live very different lives to us. Not to say they are stress free, but their stresses are more physical in nature, and can be exerted physically as opposed to behind a computer writing lengthy blogs making them sick (cough, cough – just kidding). The other thing you may note about these tribes is that they are all constantly at war with one another. They love to fight. They are (without being too blasé) always trying to kill each other….. Too much coffee and grains perhaps??

Bjorn had a really great mind map inserted here. However, due to formatting issues I was not able to copy and paste it. Leaving it out has not changed the gist of the post.

Whether its increased stress hormones, hypoglyceamia, reduced sleep, increased inflammation, or altered behaviour, coffee seems to act as a spanner in the metabolic-works. I have especially noticed this in cases of people shifting from the traditional refined-carb diet, to the more wholesome Paleo type diet while still drinking coffee. People seem to ‘fall-off-the-wagon’ more easily and their goals are never quiet reached. Remove that coffee from their monkey-like-grip and results start to unfold.

So I know what the daily coffee does to me, and a lot of my clients. But of course there are the 1 in 100 who don’t seem to be affected by the substance like the majority do. Perhaps this is their genotype? And then there are those who desperately want to be a part of that unaffected minority, and ignore all the signs of dependence. Not surprisingly they offer the same excuses I hear when trying to get someone to give up the refined carbs. If you are one of the lucky few who can take it or leave it with no immediate change in health. Or you just enjoy the flavour. Why not leave it? 

 Don’t get me wrong…I love coffee. And some people may be happy with there ritual coffee. But for me whether or not there are negative, physical side effects acute or chronic, my concerns are coffee’s impact on life in the long run. Why not keep coffee as a special treat, like alcohol and birthday cakes. Consider what relying on any substance (whole-foods, water, love and oxygen excluded) will do to the course of your life on a more esoteric level. A splash of anxiety, mixed with a drizzle of grumpiness and irritability makes for a concoction destined for crappy decision making. Like all drugs it becomes a problem when we rely on it, we get use to it, or desensitised. And slowly but surely one cup every now and then turns to one-a-day without fail, then two. And now you’re hunting it down, in strange back alleys looking for the finest brew. If you can’t get on with the day without it… sounds like a life-hampering drug addiction to me.

Tips for getting off the drugs….coffee that is –

- replace it with a green or herbal tea. (Yes there is still caffeine in Green Tea, but its different)

- incorporate some cacoa nibs in with your nuts/berries

- get an early morning workout in before the headaches come on

- take a paracetamol ( I normally would never recommend taking medictions. But if taking it once to stop the headaches on day one will get you off the drugs, the longterm benefits are better.)

So if you’re doing a 30 day challenge. Go the whole 9 yards for real and get off the drugs too. 

I will post a reply to this piece in the next couple of days. You can post your thoughts to comments.