Weight Loss and Healthy Living

Qahhwat al-bun, the "wine of the bean," is believed to have come to us through Ethiopia around the tenth century A.D. It is now called "coffee" and is consumed by over 100 million in the US and accounts for billions in international sales. Caffeine, a stimulant, is a major ingredient in coffee that is both the culprit for widespread addiction to coffee as well as the cause of its popularity. So how healthy is coffee really? What are the side effects of caffeine?


Coffee and caffeine consumption continue to be a source of debate. One respected health and wellness website relates that coffee may impact the body's regulation of cholesterol, increase risk of stroke, damage blood vessels and exacerbate rheumatoid arthritis. Another university website published findings that long term coffee consumption may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Who is right?

An estimated 8 out of 10 people (yes, 80%) consume coffee with caffeine on a daily basis. According to Dr. John Berardi, Americans consume an average of 300mg of caffeine per day. Caffeine is a drug, specifically a stimulant. What would you say if your neighbor asked you to orally ingest a methylxanthine known as 1,3,7 trimethylxanthine? That's exactly what you're doing every time you drink tea or coffee.



In order to truly understand the implications of consuming caffeine on a regular basis, we have to delve into the details. It is all too easy to be an armchair scientist and use Google and Wikipedia to dispense sagely advice. Beyond the articles, hype, and claims is a reality check: caffeine is well-known, has been studied for decades, and there is little doubt nor debate as to how it impacts your body. So bear with me while we discuss the cellular implications because it will help us understand the bigger picture.

Caffeine packs a triple punch to your nervous system. You may hear some fancy terms like "cyclic AMP" and "adenosine antagonist" and so on. What it really means, in a nutshell, is there are several ways your body regulates how nerves talk to each other. Caffeine operates on three of these to limit the body's ability to regulate this neural stimulus, so in effect it amplifies or excites your nerves ... it will amplify your neurological responses and sensitivities.

The problem with this is that it also interferes with your body's normal function. One thing that cAMP also does is impact your body's ability to generate energy. Most of your biochemical energy is locked into special molecules called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP for short. In order to generate energy, a phosphate is split from the ATP making it ADP (it goes from tri- or three phosphates to di- or two phosphates). The body then rebuilds some of these. Caffeine steps into this process and supplies the "workers" to help rebuild the ATP.

The net effect is that your full time staff, pushed out by the contractors, end up quitting. They walk off the job site. This isn't so bad if you continue to use your contractors. What this means in real life is that you'll feel a crash and need to consume more caffeine. This is what sets up the cycle of addiction as caffeine becomes necessary to keep your energy levels up. Unfortunately, while your full time staff was consistent and gave you energy throughout the day, the contractors only come in at certain hours so you start to experience periods of highs and lows.

There is no debate that caffeine is a stimulant. Stimulants put stress on your adrenal system and force them to work harder, depleting your adrenal glands more quickly. Exhausted adrenal glands produce lower levels of cortisol, a hormone that the body uses to help deal with stress. The net result can be adrenal fatigue combined with increased levels of stress. Elevated stress is serious because most studies indicate stress is the single most important factor that impacts overall longevity. In other words, people who are "stressed out" die a lot sooner than people who aren't.

Symptoms of adrenal fatigue include lack of energy, increased blood sugar, mild depression, muscle weakness, and even inability to think clearly or focus. Some doctors and patients feel strongly that prolonged coffee consumption can lead to this debilitating condition, and I've personally coached clients who found the symptoms completely disappeared after just a few weeks of eliminating coffee or switching to decaffeinated coffee and green tea (which typically has less than 1/4 the caffeine as coffee, with many more antioxidants).

Other concerns with coffee may include how it was cultivated (was it exposed to pesticides?) and what other compounds exist in the cup besides just caffeine. Some studies have linked it to bone loss in women, and others indicate it may increase rate of birth defects when consumed by pregnant women. On the other side of the coin, some studies indicate the coffee contains quality antioxidants as well as performance-enhancing attributes.

So where does that leave us?

I like to apply two rules to help sort out what I feel is part of my regular, healthy regimen and what is something that is just a splurge or exception that I enjoy only occasionally.

The first is simply ... how natural is it? I am a firm believer that our bodies were designed by God to handle the foods that have been made available to us. When we try to synthesize foods or process them our own way, historically we've failed. Just look at the history of food additives and substances later found to cause cancer and even death. Of course, "natural" doesn't automatically make a food "safe" as ancient Greece discovered with hemlock. For this reason, I choose natural sugars and syrups over artificial sweeteners (see The Sugar-Coated Truth.) Coffee definitely passes the test here because you can't get much more natural than slowly roasting a bean, grinding it by hand and then brewing it in a French press.

The second rule is, "How does it benefit me?"

I drink water because I know my body needs it. It has many health benefits as related in Water Everywhere. Lean proteins provide quality amino acids, vitamin B12, and heme iron. Vegetables and fruits are so loaded with antioxidants that science hasn't even begun to understand each and every one of them.

Coffee, on the other hand, doesn't provide me with many benefits. The performance-enhancing benefits dwindle over time due to the body's ability to adapt. The purported fat-burning benefits apparently don't offer much help, either, as an estimated 8 out of 10 people drink coffee but 2 out of 3 in the U.S. are overweight and a large percentage of those are obese. While it does provide some antioxidants, they hardly match what is available in a cup of green tea.

I actually do not believe that an occasional cup of coffee will provide any detrimental effects whatsoever. As a long term coffee drinker (for years I consumed the equivalent of half a dozen or more 6oz cups per day) I believe that the benefit is a simple, material one: it is a true pleasure to relax in the morning with a cup of freshly brewed coffee and enjoy the aroma and flavor as you prepare for the day. The con is when it becomes a necessary fix to provide the energy necessary to face the day. One of the main reasons I chose to give up my coffee consumption was because i realized it was an addiction and I believe that addictions add unnecessary weight to our lives and prevent us from fully realizing our purpose. After only two weeks of giving up the frequent cups, I found that I was back to feeling "normal" and energetic throughout the day, instead of like I was living in a fog that would only clear momentarily when I'd swig down the latest cup.

There are few drugs that seem to offer substantial benefits with long term use. Alcohol is linked with many diseases and is highly addictive. Tobacco was promoted by doctors only three decades ago and now has been identified as the most lethal preventable cause of death in the United States. While the links between caffeine and ill effects are still hotly debated, its the addictive nature and the fact that it tampers with your body's natural God-given mechanisms for energy production that keep it off my list of "healthy choices" and move it to my list "treats and splurges."

As I referred to at the beginning of Ten Fat Mistakes, moderation is the key with all things. I chose coffee as a "better bad vice" during my weight loss journey as a calorie-free substitute to the soda I was consuming on a daily basis. Now I've kicked the coffee habit and feel better than ever. As a natural, God-given gift, coffee is a pleasure to enjoy on occasion. I prepare a nice, fresh cup, smell the aroma and then savor the taste as I slowly sip it in the morning, then smile that it is no longer an addiction that forces me to chug down my "fix" just to work up enough energy to make it to the next cup.

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