Coffee

Tasting Notes:  Happiness, joy and under notes of “everything is going to be ok,” with a background flavor of insomnia, bone density loss and erectile dysfunction.

I love coffee more than life.  More than yoga.  More than āyurveda.  Sorry, but it’s true.  I’m only human.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to quit coffee, which usually just ends up with me questioning why I’d even bother getting out of bed in the morning or carrying on at all.  

As you might imagine, such a quandary has lead me to do enormous amounts of research on this topic.  Mainly trying to find the research that says, yes, carry on and drink as much coffee as you can.  If you are so inclined, pubmed has a number of articles on both sides of the camp.

You can find research proving that coffee  lowers C-reactive protein levels (a marker of inflammation), lower blood sugar, lower LDL (bad cholesterol) levels, stronger immunity.

You can find research proving that coffee raises blood sugar levels, has a negative impact on the nervous system by increasing stress-fighting hormones, decrease in DHEA (responsible for cellular and tissue repair, memory, cognitive function, etc.), raises levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine (very addictive and as we will discuss in other articles, something we all need a cleanse from once in awhile), shortens life span, increases triglycerides, increases inflammation markers, may cause insomnia, fatigue, and may interfere with postmenopausal hormone balance.  

If that’s too much to read, here’s a couple key ones:  lowers bone density and is linked to erectile dysfunction.

In āyurveda, anything can be medicine and anything can be poison, it just depends on your constitution and any imbalances present (including time and place, etc.) and dosage.  Coffee is rajasic, or stimulating, as well as acidic and heating and therefore can be too aggravating for Vata and Pitta, but could be helpful in the right dosage for Kapha.  

One of the main disadvantages to coffee is the effect on the adrenals due to drinking too much coffee or drinking coffee on an empty stomach.  In the already rajasic world we live in, we may be using coffee to get throught the day because we are too tired to make it on our own.  Over time, this can be one factor in causing HPA axis dysfunction (commonly known as adrenal fatigue).

For some, quitting coffee may be the most healthy choice.  For some of us mitigating the effects may be the best we can do.  If you drink coffee, try to limit to 1 cup per day, in the morning, after a good breakfast with some kind of healthy fat (ghee, avocado, coconut oil etc.)  I have also recently been experimenting with Four Sigmatic, a type of coffee that has either half caf or decaf options loaded with adaptogenic herbs.  (I am not sponsored or an affiliate or anything like that.)

I am a big believer in knowing the facts and then making choices to the best of each of our abilities in the moment.  I also believe that we are all just human and when we have areas of challenge, a good āyurvedic practitioner has tricks up her sleeve to help counter the effects of the habits we aren’t ready to let go of just yet.