Let's talk about your caffeine addiction...
In many of my new patient intake appointments CAFFEINE is the elephant in the room. When going through their diet, my patients will often list their morning beverage preceded by the possessive adjective “MY coffee”. Yes! We all love coffee. Because it’s delicious and alerting, and because culturally and personally it’s important. Coffee (or tea) helps motivate us to get up in the morning, it’s a great self-care ritual, and nice bringer-together of friends. What’s more, it has tons of antioxidants and research shows it can be helpful (in higher doses) in preventing dementia, cancer, stroke, some types of cancers, etc.
Now for the down sides. Some people just can’t tolerate the high amount of caffeine. And truthfully, most of these people are in denial about it. They book with an ND because they have insomnia, anxiety, high stress levels, heart palpitations, etc. But most of their concerns can be resolved with coming off caffeine, alcohol and junky food.
Naturopathic doctors look for the root cause of illness. Rather than adding a sedative to calm a wired system, the first thing to do is to remove the stimulant drug… the caffeine. But we’re all human. For some people this is a non-negotiable; “there’s no way I can give up MY coffee”, and that’s okay! You’re a grown up, you can choose your own adventure. But it’s my job to bring to light what factors are impacting your health.
My dirty secret is that I LOVE orange pekoe tea. I love it. I love it I love it I love it. BUT! I suck at caffeine. So when things get busy and stressful for me, I have to cut out MY tea. And then, when the cloud has passed, and my life has settled down, there I am, back to tea! And I think that’s healthy and normal.
We need to do the things that make us happy, but only if it’s not at great expense to our health. Nothing is black or white, and everything is always changing, so we need a fluid view of our health determinants and outcomes. But I encourage you to be sensitive to your body’s needs on a day-to-day basis. Don’t drink coffee/tea every morning because that’s just what you do. Do a scan of your body and your day and see what’s going to actually work for you.
Now for the down sides. Some people just can’t tolerate the high amount of caffeine. And truthfully, most of these people are in denial about it. They book with an ND because they have insomnia, anxiety, high stress levels, heart palpitations, etc. But most of their concerns can be resolved with coming off caffeine, alcohol and junky food.
Naturopathic doctors look for the root cause of illness. Rather than adding a sedative to calm a wired system, the first thing to do is to remove the stimulant drug… the caffeine. But we’re all human. For some people this is a non-negotiable; “there’s no way I can give up MY coffee”, and that’s okay! You’re a grown up, you can choose your own adventure. But it’s my job to bring to light what factors are impacting your health.
My dirty secret is that I LOVE orange pekoe tea. I love it. I love it I love it I love it. BUT! I suck at caffeine. So when things get busy and stressful for me, I have to cut out MY tea. And then, when the cloud has passed, and my life has settled down, there I am, back to tea! And I think that’s healthy and normal.
We need to do the things that make us happy, but only if it’s not at great expense to our health. Nothing is black or white, and everything is always changing, so we need a fluid view of our health determinants and outcomes. But I encourage you to be sensitive to your body’s needs on a day-to-day basis. Don’t drink coffee/tea every morning because that’s just what you do. Do a scan of your body and your day and see what’s going to actually work for you.
