Coffee health benefits that may surprise you...
Welcome to GreenNote Fitness Reflections.
Each month I share with you what I’m doing for longevity - to live my life fully with joy while serving others.
We will deep-dive into optimizing brain function and mitochondrial health while
maintaining strength and balance of body, mind, and spirit.
As I open the tightly sealed package of fresh coffee beans, the wonderful aroma fills my senses. Carefully pouring my pristine Mountain Valley Spring water into the coffee maker, I smile with anticipation of hot, wonderful tasting coffee.
Is coffee good for you? Is there too much of a good thing?
Research suggests some pretty amazing benefits. Can this be true? Short answer, yes. However, let’s clarify, good coffee can be good for you. Not all coffee is created equal. Some beans are laden with pesticides.
So, now that we are talking about pesticide-free beans, what are some of the benefits?
Research suggests the following benefits:
In many of the studies, the results were the same between the caffeinated and the decaffeinated coffee consuming groups, so rather than just the caffeine, other things within coffee are having an impact like antioxidants and tannins. Coffee also contains some essential nutrients. These include B2, B3, B5, manganese, potassium and magnesium.
Coffee has a very high amount of polyphenols which act as antioxidants
Other components in coffee can actually trigger your own endogenous production of antioxidants via what is called antioxidant gene expression
Coffee is anti-inflammatory and in general, cardiovascular diseases and chronic diseases are triggered by inflammation and oxidative damage - one reason for its effect on these diseases
Coffee contains flavonoids and polyphenols - these have been shown to inhibit metastasis and to regulate genes that are involved in DNA repair and to stop some of the cellular damage that could result in increased risk of cancer
It should be said that like with most things, a balance is needed between caffeine and non-caffeine.
Proceed with caution
Caffeine can deleteriously affect your neurotransmitters, hormones, and elements of your nervous system including your circadian rhythm. Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors so you feel alert, which significantly impacts sleep quality later in the evening, and it does this whether you are a “fast" or a “slow” caffeine metabolizer (a slow caffeine metabolize has a variant in the CYP1A gene).
That “boost” you feel from coffee comes from the adrenaline it injects into your bloodstream, while manipulating dopamine production to make you feel good, and possibly, to make you feel addicted. Once the caffeine-induced adrenaline wears off, many people experience withdrawal symptoms including headaches, fatigue, and depression. It can leave your body in a state of lack of focus, jitteriness, and irritability.
To combat this there are a few things you can do. The first one is a rule I follow pretty strictly and that is no caffeine after 12:00 PM. I want to ensure a good night’s sleep so I make sure to only have caffeine in the morning. The next step would be to regularly cycle off of caffeine. An example would be to take a week off each month of caffeine consumption. This is one that I’m working at getting better at. That could be switching to a decaf coffee or no coffee at all.
What do I personally drink?
As I said, I begin most mornings with a cup of coffee. Not just any coffee because not all coffee is created equal. As we learned many beans are laden with pesticides. Fear not, there are some companies that meticulously look at quality and good practices and don’t skimp on any of that. One such company are my friends at Kion.
I was super excited when they announced their new Kion Decaf Coffee. Because I don’t want to get dependent upon caffeine and I want to keep it effective for when I do consume it - I will be cycling my caffeine intake. Once a week every month, I will use decaf and then switch back to caffeine.
You can grab both the great tasting, mold/toxin/chemical free Kion Coffee and Kion Decaf Coffee here I wouldn’t delay too long on getting the Decaf as it will probably go fast.
To our reflection,
Lisa Schaffer
GreenNote Fitness
Do you have a friend that would benefit from this information?
***Please forward it to them!***
See my last newsletter Ready for a 5-day cold thermo challenge…?
