How I'm Feeling off Coffee

I love the taste of coffee. It's one of my favorite tasting drinks in the world. I also think it has some benefits as well. These are some of the reasons I've found it very hard to quit this decade-long habit. 

Yet, I've struggled with afternoon "crashes" where I feel gloomy, tired and even a bit depressed. I've noticed it more when I drink more coffee in the mornings. There's definitely a pattern, and so I've taken up the difficult task of quitting coffee recently. 

It's been about a week now since I've had any coffee. And honestly, I'm loving it. Yes, the first few days were tough. But I took some Advil as needed, and it kept the headaches at bay. Now I'm drinking Dandy Blend or Teeccino (coffee alternatives) in the morning instead of coffee, and green tea in the afternoons. 

The best benefit I've noticed from quitting coffee is that my evenings aren't filled with depression like before. I tend to feel positive in the evenings this past week, rather than depressed and gloomy. It's been a significant switch, and it's quite nice to rid myself of the typical evening gloom. 

For these reasons... I'm hoping I can keep coffee out of my diet for good. 

Can Coffee Cause Hair Loss?

Keeping your coffee black, organic, and limited to one cup per day helps to limit the negative effects of coffee (Link). Also, since coffee can reduce iron absorption during meals, many doctors suggest drinking coffee an hour after, or before, your meals.

Dr. Oz puts it well: "Don’t let coffee or [black] tea scare you! They both have multiple health benefits, so you shouldn’t avoid drinking them. In fact, even if you drink tea or coffee with your meals, if you’re not already anemic, chances are you’re getting the iron you need anyway. If you’re constantly fatigued and think you may have iron-deficiency anemia, you should see a doctor and get your iron levels tested" (Link).

1) Iron Deficiency - One study demonstrated that coffee reduced non-heme iron absorption by 39% (Link). Also, iron deficiency is linked with hair loss. "A review of 40 years of research shows that iron deficiency has a much closer link to hair loss than most doctors realize. It may be the key to restoring hair growth, Cleveland Clinic dermatologists find" (Link).

Black tea was also included in this study, and has similar results. "Black tea, and even coffee to a lesser extent, also block iron absorption" (Link). However, cultures that drink green tea do not suffer from anemia more than other cultures (Link). In fact green tea has been proven to regrow hair on mice (Link).

2) Adrenal Fatigue - It is well known that adrenal fatigue and stress can lead to hair loss. But can coffee can lead to adrenal fatigue? "What happens over time is that your adrenal glands start to burn out from overuse, which can lead to adrenal fatigue. Naturally, you can help to prevent adrenal fatigue simply by avoiding coffee, or keeping your consumption to a minimum" (Link).

3) B Vitamins - "Caffeine also reduces the levels of vitamin B which is necessary for healthy hair." (Link)

"I decided to stop drinking coffee. Was very hard in the beginning...but I did it and all my problems are gone! My hair stopped falling almost completely and is more strong now." (Link)

How Coffee Causes Depression

For some proven tips on how to quit coffee, check out my other post HERE

Rather than giving us energy, coffee is actually "borrowing" energy from adrenal reserves that then need to be refilled. As One significant study says, "One of the major effects [of caffeine] is to stimulate the adrenal glands to secrete epinephrine and norephinephrine, resulting in an immediate boost of energy. However, in time, the adrenal glands become exhausted." And this adrenal exhaustion leads to significant fatigue. "It is our observation that most of the time fatigue is a result of diminished adrenal function or adrenal exhaustion."

On his website, New York physician Dr. Bass details how a morning caffeine boost comes at a cost.  "A cup of coffee relieves a headache only to fasten the headache upon the user; it relieves depression of spirits only to double the depression when it 'wears off'. (If the primary action is stimulation, the secondary effect is depression)." (Link)

• "Caffeine doesn't add energy to your system, it just burns up your reserves at a faster pace. You get a short-term boost at the expense of long-term jitters and fatigue" (The Unofficial Guide to Beating Stress by Pat Goudey, page 136).
• "In effect, drinking multiple cups of coffee is telling your body that it's under dire circumstances almost all the time" (Link).
• One study published in 2007 found that 52 per cent of panic-disorder patients suffered a panic attack after drinking caffeinated coffee. Conversely, the panic-disorder patients drinking decaf did not suffer panic attacks (Link).
• "Caffeine does not provide energy—only chemical stimulation. The perceived "energy" comes from the body's struggle to adapt to increased blood levels of stress hormones. In most cases, this induced emergency state leads to well-defined side effects collectively known as caffeinism. Ironically, caffeinism is characterized by fatigue" (Caffeine Blues By Stephen Cherniske MS, page 10).

Personally, I have also felt the negative effects of coffee. When I drink coffee in the morning, I feel invigorated, positive and energized. Yet, as the caffeine wears off, my evenings can include lethargic and sad or even depressing feelings. Conversely, when I'm off caffeine and eating a whole foods, plant based diet, I generally feel zero depression at night. I have even kept a journal about how a plant based, caffeine free diet has effected my mood. While on this plan, I have felt incredibly happy and positive many evenings for no specific reason. When I'm drinking coffee and tea during the day, however, I have felt sad at night for no specific reason.

• "When caffeine is consumed, insulin, the hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar, is increased. Insulin lowers blood sugar levels, which can cause depression a few hours after you consume caffeine" (Link).

Water, juice and smoothies are great alternatives to coffee. For those who can't seem to quit caffeine altogether, green tea may be a good alternative, even if it's temporary. Green tea has less caffeine than coffee and contains theanine, which helps promote sleep (Link). This study proves the incredible relaxing effects of theanine. To discover more amazing benefits of green tea, check out my other post HERE.

The Amazing Benefits of Green Tea

Creative Commons Photo from Wilerson S Andrade

After living in China for over two years, I've discovered the importance of green tea within Chinese culture. While coffee is the caffeinated drink of choice for Americans, green tea is far more popular than coffee in China. After researching the benefits of green tea, I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's a better choice than coffee. Here are a few reasons why:

1) Green Tea Is Clean. Unlike black tea, green tea is almost always free of lead and other heavy metal contaminates (link). Coffee, on the other hand? "A cup of coffee now and then is not going to add a lot of toxic metals to the body.  However, habitual use can add significant lead, according to our experience with hair mineral testing.  All the toxic metals are quite harmful, so it makes little sense to add more to the body" (Link).

2) Green Tea Relaxes. "Theanine, an amino acid present in green tea but not in coffee, relaxes and soothes even as the caffeine lifts you up" (Link).

3) Less Caffeine. Green tea has less caffeine than coffee and so it doesn't make you as nervous or "jittery" as coffee. Also, this means you can sip it all day without as many problems.

Caffeine content:

Cup of Brewed Coffee 8 oz. (237 mL)    95-200 mg caffeine

Cup of  Green tea         8 oz. (237 mL)    24-45 mg caffeine

4) Better Antioxidants. Green tea contains a specific type of antioxidant known as catechins, which are known to help with cancer prevention (Link). While coffee does contain some great antioxidants, it does not contain catechins.

5) Better Skin. Green has a great reputation for fighting acne (Link) while coffee has been reported to trigger acne in some people (Link). Also, polyphenols in green tea may protect against damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) B radiation (Link).

6) Better Hair. Green tea can help prevent hair loss and even lead to regrowth of hair (Link).

7) Fights Arthritis - "A team of US researchers have discovered that a compound in green tea could have the potential to treat joint pain, inflammation and tissue damage in sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis" (Link).

8) Protect Against Alzheimer's - Green Tea May Prevent Alzheimer's Disease, Say Four New Studies (Link).

9) Protects against heart disease - A study of 40,530 Japanese adults found that participants who drank more than five cups of green tea a day had a 26% lower risk of death from heart attack or stroke and a 16% lower risk of death from all causes than people who drank less than one cup of green tea a day (link).

10) Protects against Cancer - In laboratory studies, green tea has been shown to slow or completely prevent cancer developent in colon, liver, breast and prostate cells. Other studies involving green tea have shown similar protective effects in tissues of the lung, skin and digestive tract (Link),

11) Anti-bacterial. "Other studies have revealed that green tea has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties as well. This is beneficial in a number of ways. Green tea can protect you from all sorts of fungal infections" (Link).

"Study data clearly demonstrates profound effects of green tea against [a bacteria infection known as] Helicobacter" (Link).

Drinking green tea "increases the production of interferon gamma, which is an infection-fighting substance produced by the body...This was confirmed in several scientific studies" (Link).

12) Anti AIDS Virus "The wonderful polyphenols found in green tea -- specifically epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) -- could become a powerful weapon in the fight against the AIDS virus." (Link)

Can Morning Coffee Cause Evening Insomnia?

Creative Commons photo link

According to Web MD, "After eight to 10 hours [after drinking coffee], 75% of the caffeine is gone [from your body]. For most people, a cup of coffee or two in the morning won't interfere with sleep at night." However, they also warn that, "People who are more sensitive may not only experience insomnia but also have caffeine side effects of nervousness and gastrointestinal upset" (Link).  

Basically, it's unlikely that caffeine will cause insomnia unless you're more sensitive to its effects. Here are some reasons why caffeine does cause insomnia in some people:

• Caffeine naturally increases and stimulates cortisol in people (Link). "Cortisol, known as the stress hormone, helps facilitate the fight or flight mechanism designed to save us from physical threat" (Link).
• "Some experts state that cortisol can remain elevated for up to 18 hours in the blood. So it may not be the caffeine that keeps you awake at night - it may be cortisol.  So even a cup of coffee at 7:00 AM can still have it's effects at 10:00 at night" (Link). 

While there are positive effects of coffee such as antioxidants, there are also negative effects. For example, adrenal fatigue may occur for those who use coffee daily. 

• "Shortly after the consumption of caffeine, individuals may feel a buzz from the initial effects. These include an increase in the availability of sugars and fatty acids in the bloodstream together with the stimulation of the central nervous system. However, Dr. Wilson points out that the adrenal glands have to work hard for this to happen. This can cause severe fatigue and weakness in sufferers of adrenal fatigue" (Link).
• "Your body, eventually, will start feeling chronically tired because of how constantly elevated cortisol levels have drained your body of all of its reserves" (Link).

Caffeine vs. High Carb Raw Foods Breakfast

Over the last few months, I've been drinking more and more caffeine, especially green tea in the morning. Since I don't regularly drink caffeine, its effects are very powerful for me. I feel awake, alert and happy after even just one cup of green tea. Coffee is much more powerful for me. When I drink coffee, I feel energetic. I feel creative. I feel awesome. Until I crash.

My caffeine crashes are also quite powerful. I feel sleepy, lethargic and even somewhat depressed. Because of the negative emotions I feel during the inevitable caffeine crash, I have decided to cut out caffeine recently. I hate the idea of knowing that I will feel feel very tired and probably even sad later during the day, simply because of a caffeine crash.

For me, the best replacement for caffeine is a high carb smoothie in the morning. My favorite smoothies include bananas, berries, some sort of vegan protein / vitamin powder and even some greens. I feel great when I drink this for breakfast, and I don't experience a similar crash. For me, some of the benefits of high carb, "high raw" vegan smoothies are more energy, better skin and a feeling of optimism.

High Carb Raw Vegan Smoothie > Coffee, tea and "energy drinks".

Is Raw Chocolate (cacao) Healthy?

photo by Trevor Ellestad

The Debate

Within the raw food community there is a lot of debate about raw chocolate. On the one hand there are popular raw food leaders such as David Wolfe, Shazzie, Truth Calkins and others emphasizing the high antioxidant properties of raw chocolate. They even refer to cacao as one of nature's greatest superfoods. On the other hand are raw food leaders such as Paul Nison, John Kohler, Durian Rider, Kevin Gianni and others emphasizing that cacao has addictive properties, causes mood swings and overstimulates your adrenals.

My Experience

I was confused about all of the back and forth debate and wanted to try cacao for myself. So I went to my local health food store and picked up a pound of Cacao Nibs, eating the whole bag over the last few weeks. In fact, just last night I finished off the last of the cacao, eating a few large handfuls after dinner. I must say that I felt wonderful last night as well as pretty much every night that I ate the raw cacao. My mood was elevated and I can attest that cacao is truly an amazing aphrodisiac (which is somewhat difficult to deal with as a single man).

Yet today is a different story. In fact, most days after I "binged" on raw cacao, I would feel testy, on edge, and be struggling with serious mood swings. A few days ago, for example, I got home from work and was feeling tired. My dogs came up and were barking at me to feed them and let them out. Out of sheer frustration I threw some papers on the ground as hard as I could. I then leaned back in a Lazy Boy chair and took a much needed rest, not understanding the source of my new mood swings.

My Conclusion

Raw chocolate causes mood swings and should generally be avoided. I experienced this first hand. That being said, I am sure I will eat chocolate again at some point. However, I now see it for what it is: a tasty treat to enjoy on occasion rather than a healthy superfood to enjoy regularly.