We’ve all seen the surmounting amount of studies surrounding coffee and if it’s good or bad for you. The problem is that, like most things in nutrition, something proved today is disproved tomorrow only to be reproved the following week. News headlines like “coffee sparks creativity!” “coffee may be your link to liver cancer” “Coffee is the key to longevity!” “Your coffee is killing you.” literally pepper the pages and they barely have enough decency to wait a month before publishing a conflicting study.
So what the deal, man? Is coffee good or bad for you? While we might not be able to answer that question, here at WYS we do have a good bit of scientific information behind us about what’s actually going on when you drink coffee and we can look at it from a yogic perspective and our own individual reactions to it to make wise judgement calls.
Let’s look at coffee first though - Caffeine mimics a chemical in your brain called Adenosine - they’re similar structurally. You can think of Adenosine as your sleep alarm, as you go through your day, more and more of it is produced and binds to receptor sites in the brain. Eventually, the daily accumulation will leave you tired and fatigued. Sleeping sort of wipes the board clean for the adenosine.
Now here comes caffeine; Since it’s similar in build to Adenosine, Caffeine goes through the bloodstream and can bind to your adenosine receptors. Unlike adenosine though, you don’t feel tired with the accumulation of this chemical and with the receptors full, adenosine can no longer get bind with its receptors, no longer able to calm you or tire you.
As you continue to up your caffeine intake, because c’mon - we all have before, your brain will actually grow more receptors, only to be taken up by your increase of caffeine now. In fact, when you try to quit, you now have more adenosine receptors in the brain than you ever would have had from the introduction of coffee, giving you the tired, lethargic feel that people feel that ‘can’t get over without the very problem that started it - caffeine.
Along with a host of other problems like increasing adrenaline, feeding your brain excess dopamine (which is why you feel happy drinking coffee) and literally preparing you to go into fight-or-flight mode, you might want to rethink trying it out if you’re not on the bandwagon yet. And for people already in this fight, what can we do? That’s definitely not a happy picture painted despite the token studies that otherwise say it’s good for creativity.
Okay, but the article is called Cortisol & Caffeine, why are you just trying to scare us. WYS? Well, we’re getting there - put all the B.S. aside about coffee’s goodness or badness, first. Let’s just assume we all drink it, okay?
How you consume your coffee can help you figure out an appropriate level of caffeine intake and also cut your dependency on it, here’s how:
The body is on it’s own natural clock called the circadian rhythm. To regulate this and your overall alertness during the day, it produces cortisol, sometimes referred to as the stress hormone. Your body has a natural peak level of cortisol production between 8:00 - 9:00 am, meaning your body naturally wakes you up.
You’d think adding caffeine would compound the effect but the opposite is actually true. Scientist have seen that this peak actually diminishes the caffeine’s effect and requires you to take in an even larger quantity in order to still feel the same level of ‘buzz’ as you’re used to, continuing the cycle of addiction.
What’s more, your cortisol levels peak multiple times a day, generally around 12:00 - 1:00pm and 5:30 - 6:30 pm and this is regulated by the sun’s light and energy rather than when you wake up. So even if you wake up at 10:30 (and I bet you roused first though around 8:30 and then went back to sleep) your levels will not conform to that schedule.
Don’t worry, this isn’t mean to be all doom and gloom, rather just think about maybe waiting a little bit before reaching for the first cup. Scientist advise waiting until peak levels of Cortisol are down at around 9AM, and if you’re a super early bird, try just waiting an hour after you wake up and see how it affects you and your intake level after one week. Even if you haven’t gone through peak levels your body will naturally produce more Cortisol while you’re waking up, be it from slumber or a nap, so let those levels return back to normal and then go for the Joe.
Remember, nutrition really is a fledgling science and there’s always going to be conflicting opinions out there. It’s up to you to figure out what’s happening in your body and what would work best for it. Listen to your body and experiment with how you take in your caffeine, maybe even try an iced coffee this hot season anyways and see how the reduced acidity of it sits with you stomach. At the very least, after a week experiment and nothing’s changed, you go back to what you were doing. But now when you go for the cup of coffee, ask yourself if you need it, or want it.
