Move over coffee! It’s time to get off the stimulate-then-slump rollercoaster and switch to gentler ways to increase your physical and mental energy during these colder months.
DO YOU USE COFFEE to wake you up each day and get you going? That’s no surprise because it’s the most popular drink worldwide, after water. More than 400 billion cups are glugged down each year, with a whopping £4bn spent in high-street coffee shops in the UK. Brits drink about two cups of coffee per day. But although caffeine can give you an instant jolt of energ y, it comes at a biological price.
Caffeine improves alertness and concentration as it acts as an adenosine receptor antagonist, which means it stops you feeling tired.
Adenosine is a substance in your body that promotes sleepiness, and the caffeine blocks this receptor. So, you don’t feel sleepy. However, the negative effects of caffeine can be considerable. ‘It stimulates your adrenal glands to work harder and release more stress hormones, such as adrenaline,’ says nutritionist and psychologist Dr Naomi Newman-Beinart. ‘For anyone already in a stressed sate, this simply adds to the long-term negative effects of stress on the body and exhausts adrenal glands. This over-stimulation can also interfere with sleep,’ she adds.
The exact effects on you are down to your individual body chemistry and your tolerance to caffeine. ‘Several sources suggest 400mg of caffeine per day (about four cups of coffee) is safe for most healthy adults. However, this varies, and many people drink much more than this without any issues,’ says Dr Newman-Beinart.
It’s also been found that coffee can increase inflammatory markers in your body, which are present in many chronic degenerative diseases. Plus, caffeine can unbalance hormones, including sex hormones such as testosterone, so caffeine could aggravate symptoms of PMS or perimenopause and menopause. ‘Caffeine can affect your hormones – the chemical substances that control and regulate various bodily functions. It can influence hormonal balance by causing more or less of a hormone to be secreted. It may also disrupt your body’s natural levels of insulin, leading to insulin sensitivity and impairing glucose metabolism,’ says Dr Newman-Beinhart.
Caffeine can also be a problem for those with IBS or a sensitive stomach. ‘It’s a stimulant which increases gut motility, sometimes causing loose stools, diarrhoea and dehydration,’ she says. So, what can the coffee addicts do? Swap your shot of espresso for a natural and gentler wake-up with our suggestions.
CORDYCEPS
A great alternative to caffeine is cordyc
