Reducing Caffeine
CAFFEINE
Caffeine when ingested triggers our fight flight response. This means every time we have a coffee or tea (or any drink with caffeine in it), stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol are released (Which is why it wakes us up a bit) putting our body into "Fight or Flight", rather than the body's preferred state, "Rest and Digest”.
Triggering our stress hormones multiple times a day has dire consequences long term.
Our bodies are designed to be in 'Rest and Digest' mode the majority of the time, only going into "Fight or Flight" when we need to get out of danger quickly.
Triggering the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol constantly by drinking caffeine makes our body think it is always in "Fight or Flight" mode.
High caffeine use (anything over 1 cup a day) can cause
- Adrenal fatigue and exhaustion
- Difficulty burning fat for fuel (this only happens when we are in rest and digest)
- Poor sleep due to high adrenaline and cortisol, these hormones need to be very low in order to sleep soundly
- Anxiety, low mood and low frustration tolerance (Its very hard to be calm and happy when caffeine intake is high)
- Sugar cravings
- Liver overload
- Heart issues with high blood pressure and heart rate.
- Hormone imbalance
Try to keep your caffeine intake as low as possible. I advise a maximum of 1 day. Some people still get symptoms with just 1 cup a day. I would advise cutting out completely if you know you still get symptoms with 1 cup of caffeine a day.
Caffeine Free Alternatives
Herbal Tea
Cacao Hot Chocolate
Dandelion Root Coffee
Turmeric Latte
Chai Latte
