With a Starbucks on every corner, it’s safe to assume that we have a bit of an addiction with coffee. Coffee is America’s favorite drug with around 180 million of us starting our days with a caffeine jolt to get going.
Some people enjoy their coffee in small doses and have no health issues with drinking it. There are, however, some potential negative effects of coffee, especially if you find it difficult to go a day without it.
What effects can your daily cup of joe actually have on your body?
1. Coffee Increases Acidity in The Body
With oils, acids and compounds like caffeine; coffee can harm your stomach and intestines, even irritating their linings!
Your stomach creates copious amounts of hydrochloric acid (HCI) when you drink coffee – especially if you drink it on an empty stomach.
This makes that morning cup of Joe the WORST time to drink coffee!
Your body needs hydrochloric acid for digestion.
If you put the production of HCI into overdrive, your body will have reduced ability to produce it!
What’s more, you may even encounter problems breaking down and using proteins, some of the most important nutrients your body needs!
If you aren’t digesting your protein, this can lead to:
- Bloating
- Gas
- Irritable Bowels
- Diverticulitis
- Colon Cancer
- … and more!!
2. Coffee Irritates Your Bowels
Coffee’s acidic nature may promote ulcer-inducing bacteria in your stomach.
It’s frequently rumored to be an intestinal irritant that anybody with gastrointestinal problems should avoid.
But caffeine isn’t the problem as much as the enzymes in the coffee bean itself.
So if you have sensitive bowels or ulcers, switching from regular to decaf coffee isn’t going to alleviate the pain you’re in.
In fact, those suffering from IBS, gastritis, Crohn’s Disease, colitis and ulcers are advised by their doctors to AVOID coffee.
3. Coffee Prevents Healing In Your Gut
The acidity of coffee can actually PREVENT healing of a damaged GI tract.
According to experts, caffeine is not a factor – it’s the nature of the bean itself!
Leaky gut, constipation, bloating, gas… there’s NOTHING fun about GI problems.
And surely you’ve tried to do something about it!
But could coffee be hindering your healing?
4. Coffee Promotes Heartburn
Heartburn, or acid reflux, is a painful nuisance that millions of people suffer from.
Coffee may actually promote heartburn because it relaxes your esophageal sphincter muscle.
This, again, occurs with both regular AND decaf coffee.
In fact, decaffeinated coffee is shown to be even MORE acid-forming than regular coffee!
5. Coffee May Have Laxative Effects
I have heard so many people brag about having oatmeal and coffee in the morning to get things ‘going’.
And you know what? For years I ENVIED them!
However, this may work to negatively affect your health and longevity goals.
You see, coffee used as a laxative may cause gastric emptying of the stomach before your food gets the chance to properly digest.
The acidic contents go into your small intestine BEFORE your body is ready, and this can cause injury or inflammation to the very organ that’s supposed to be absorbing nutrients that help you function healthily, lose weight, feel full and satisfied… and ultimately keep you alive!
What’s more, this can also lead to some… err… flatulence problems.
Decaffeinated coffee (are you getting the hint?), seems to have the same effect – so caffeine doesn’t seem to be the contributing factor.
Laxatives are dangerous – especially if you’re trying to lose weight; at which point it’s critical that you stay hydrated in order for your body to function healthily, detoxify and fight fat.
6. Coffee May Prevent Mineral Absorption
Coffee affects iron absorption in your body.
It hinders your kidneys’ ability to hold on to calcium, zinc, magnesium and other important minerals. Yikes!
Even if you take vitamins and supplements every day, coffee drinkers may still wind up being deficient in these important minerals.
Magnesium is critical to helping you achieve bowel regularity.
Dr. Mark Hyman recalls work in the emergency room, “magnesium was a critical medication whether somebody was:
- On the crash cart dying of a life-threatening heart problem
- Constipated and preparing for a colonoscopy
- In Pre-Term Labor, high blood pressure of pregnancy, or seizures”
Magnesium is the ‘relaxation’ mineral, but between 50 and 70% of Americans are deficient in this critical supplement.
7. Coffee Can Stress You Out
Drinking coffee can promote the release of cortisol, a stress hormone that enacts your body’s ‘fight or flight’ response.
This may increase blood pressure and tension levels.
In fact, many report that coffee, which used to give them energy, has turned into the source of jitters that make it difficult to relax.
Engaging stress hormones through coffee may interfere with your digestive process, as well as store fat as a result of the ‘fight or flight’ mode.
Plus, coffee can be extremely high in caffeine. The average small cup of coffee has 50 mg of caffeine.
To put it in perspective, the average cup of our Wu-Long Slimming Tea only has 17 mg of caffeine.
Consuming excessive amounts of caffeine may negatively affect the metabolism of something called “Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid”, or “GABA”.
GABA helps regulate your mood and keeps you cool under stress, even calming your entire gastrointestinal tract.
To learn more about how stress effects the body, click here.
The Natural Conclusion
The choice in front of us is pretty simple.
If you want to have optimal GI health and minimize the effects of acidic coffee on our guts, and our ability to absorb nutrients properly in our bodies – it may be time for us to limit our coffee consumption!
Many diets, such as the Paleo or Primal Diets, limit or even discourage the consumption of coffee for optimal health.
After all – if the goal is to have a healthy gut – why would we risk it?
Well with Wu-Long, you actually HELP your body manage:
- Healthy Digestion & Mineral Absorption Vs. Indigestion & Mineral Deficiency
- Relaxation Vs. Stress
- Natural Energy Levels Vs. Jitters
- Cancer-Fighting Vs. Inflammation Causing
Oh, yeah… and for what it’s worth – I’ve never heard anybody complain about flatulence from our Medicinal-Grade Oolong!
We challenge you to swap out your daily cup of coffee for a cup of our Wu-Long Tea for a whole month!
See and feel the amazing effects of healing your body from the inside out!
Try it today and let me know how you’re feeling. 🙂
Happy Sipping!
Yours in Health & Happiness,
Chrissy