People may joke about needing a cup of coffee to come alive in the morning. But for 85% of Americans that’s no joke. It’s our most common way to handle stress. We reach for a dose of caffeine for a quick burst of energy or to calm down our nerves. Have you ever wondered what else caffeine is doing in your body?
CAFFEINE AND SLEEP. Anybody here needing more shut-eye? In your brain, there’s an important chemical called adenosine. This is the chemical that helps you feel sleepy. But when you drink caffeine, it blocks adenosine from working, making it harder to fall asleep. And that can impact how much you weigh. Sleep studies have shown that poor sleep is actually associated with increased appetite, weight gain, and more cravings for processed foods.
ADENOSINE AND YOUR HEART. Adenosine receptors are found throughout your body. They help to relax your blood vessels, make your blood platelets less sticky, and promote healthy circulation. But when caffeine is introduced into your body, the adenosine receptors are essentially being locked up, so that they can’t promote healthy circulation. As we’ve been learning in our Diabetes UnDone classes, perfect health depends upon perfect circulation.
CAFFEINE AND SUGAR. Whenever you sit down to a warm cup of coffee, you might think of adding something sweet. Have you ever heard of coffee and Danish? This is no coincidence. Caffeine actually changes your perceived sense of sweetness, which often leads to craving more sugary foods. Adding that one sugary snack during your coffee break can eventually lead to greater weight gain.
Coffee may be low in calories by itself, but that’s not the case with many coffee drinks. Shops like Starbucks sell sweetened coffees like frappuccinos that are loaded with added sugars. A simple frappuccino can have as much as 36-39 grams of sugar, depending on the size you order. And then there’s that caramel frappuccino that can have a whopping 46-84 grams of sugar. What do 84 grams of sugar look like? Try measuring 19 teaspoons in a glass and see how full it gets! That’s the amount of sugar you’d be drinking! When you think about all that sugar, I want you to think, “This is the main culprit for obesity as well as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.”
But caffeine is at work too because this chemical is prompting you to eat more snacks and larger meals. This is because caffeine raises cortisol, the stress hormone that tells your body to increase its stores of energy–in other words, to eat more. It also triggers emotional eating so we’ll crave more of our favorite high-fat comfort foods.
CAFFEINE AND DIABETES. Most Americans are getting 300 mg of caffeine every day. If we could pour that much caffeine into a glass, it would amount to 1 and a half cups of pure caffeine. That’s all it takes to cause significant spikes in blood sugar. However, a recent study found that even moderate amounts of caffeine can reduce insulin sensitivity by at least 15%. This impacts how well your body regulates blood sugar but it also influences how well you control your weight. Insulin manages the storage of fat in the body and how well you control your appetite. However, when there’s too much insulin in the bloodstream, your body will store more food as fat, especially in the belly region.
CAFFEINE AND BLOOD FLOW. A cup of coffee causes your blood vessels to constrict, as we see in the slide above. The blood vessel is being squeezed, making it harder for blood to flow freely. As a result, your heart will work harder to push the blood through, often causing a rise in blood pressure. Any type of coffee will impair blood flow, including decaffeinated coffee (because it isn’t totally caffeine-free). Whenever you have a caffeinated beverage, there is a 40% drop in blood flow to the brain; caffeine is blocking adenosine receptors from controlling healthy blood flow.
Another immediate effect of caffeine was presented recently at the European Society of Cardiology Congress. They reported that “the amount of caffeine in one cup of coffee could be enough to harden a person’s arteries for several hours afterward.” Hardened arteries put extra pressure on the heart, enough to increase your risk for a heart attack or stroke. In addition, the elasticity of the aorta, the main artery that supplies blood to the entire body, is greatly reduced. This can eventually impact blood pressure and impair blood flow.
What Can We Do?
When we’re talking about diabetes, we’re not talking about one thing. Diabetes affects nearly every system of the body, including the heart, kidneys, digestion, and the brain. They are all greatly affected. It’s something physicians call comorbidity–when there are several diseases occurring simultaneously and where each one is impacting the other. Weight gain often leads to type 2 diabetes, which can further impair blood pressure and heart health. But problems with digestion can also occur as well as depression, arthritis, and even cancer. It’s a domino effect affecting the whole body. You might even say, it impacts your whole life.
So when we think about caffeinated beverages, we need to look at the entire lifestyle because the effect of caffeine is so widespread. We need to examine our sleep habits, meals, exercise, and most of all, how we are dealing with stress. What are some healthy ways we can de-stress without the use of caffeine?
Healthy Stress Busters
- Go for a 10 minute walk. Exercise lowers your body’s stress hormones and releases happy endorphins to boost your mood and energy levels.
- Enjoy a cup of herbal tea. Chamomile tea is a very popular sleep aid. When I’m having an extremely stressful day, I reach for chamomile or a blend of chamomile and valerian, two well-known herbs for inducing relaxation and a greater sense of calm.
- Write it down. One way to handle stress is to write things down, especially when you write things you a grateful for. Gratitude helps reduce anxiety and stress by focusing your thoughts on what’s positive in your life.
- Spend more time with family or friends. Social support can help you get through a stressful time. Building a network of support is an important part of good emotional health.
- Laugh more. Laughing relieves your stress response and relieves tension by relaxing your muscles. In the long run, it can also improve your mood and your immune system.
- Learn to say no. Some stressors are within your control. Set up boundaries in your life, especially to protect your health. Try not to take on more than you can safely handle. Remember, you are not a Super Hero!
- Start a To-Do list. One cause of stress can be procrastination. Putting off responsibilities can leave you scrambling to catch up. This often leads to stress. If you have trouble with managing your time and getting things done on time, why not start a To-Do List? Work on the things you need to do today. Break down a big job into little steps and include them on your list.
- Ask for a hug. A hug can help release oxytocin and lower cortisol. This can help lower blood pressure and heart rate, both symptoms of stress.
- Take a deep breath. Deep breathing helps slow down your heart rate,
- Play with your pet. Having a pet helps release oxytocin, a brain chemical that promotes a positive mood. Having a pet also keeps you more active and provides companionship—both good things for reducing stress naturally.
- Listen to relaxing music. Create a soothing playlist on your phone or computer. Put it on whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed. I have a CD that plays Pachebel’s Canon in D with the sound of waves at a beach in the background. It makes me feel like I’m sunbathing by the ocean.
- Write yourself a positive message. If you’re at work and feeling stressed, grab a stickie note and write down something positive about your-self—“I am the best at…” Our brains are con-stantly running and there’s a high percentage of our thoughts that can be negative. Cancel out the negatives with positive self-talk.
- Get in touch with your creative side. Take time to make something. If you’re not into drawing or woodworking, consider coloring in an adult coloring book. They are quite popular now. You don’t have to finish a picture at one time. Even 5-10 minutes can help to calm you down. One study showed that anxiety levels went down when people colored complex geometric patterns.
- Ask a friend for a massage. Massage is a powerful tool for melting away tension, lowering blood pressure and heart rate, and helping you to manage pain. Try a neck massage or even hand or foot massage to bring down your stress.
- Take time to pray. Unload your stress by talking to God, thanking Him for your blessings and using one of His many promises for peace in your prayers.
