The Dangers and Drug Effects of Coffee and Caffeine
The caffeine in coffee is a drug, just like alcohol,
nicotine, or cocaine. It is astonishing how every health and fitness
magazine out there today totes the "benefits" of coffee. Most people
don't realize it, but their morning cups set their bodies up for a
rollercoaster day of highs and lows, only to bottom out at the point of
exhaustion. Just a few hours after consumption, when the artificial
high dies down, many people may reach for more coffee or something
sugary to get another lift, leading to daily fluctuations in energy and
alertness, weight gain and possibly to eventual chronic adrenal
exhaustion.
Coffee's harmful effects can be noticed after just
one caffeinated drink. The drug begins its effects by initiating
uncontrolled neuron firing in your brain. This excess neuron activity
triggers adrenal glands to produce adrenaline. Adrenaline is the source
of the body's "fight-or-flight" response. By stimulating your adrenal
glands to produce adrenaline, caffeine puts your body in this
"fight-or-flight" state, which is useless if you remain inactive,
sitting in front of a TV, computer or reading. When this adrenal high
wears off later, you feel the drop in terms of fatigue, irritability,
lethargy, headache or confusion. By continuously drinking caffeinated
beverages, you keep the body in a constant state of "fight or flight".
So what does this do to the body? What if you were walking through the
jungle and were in constant fear of being eaten? You keep the body in a
perpetual state of alertness. However, over time that alert state
becomes more and more depleted due to the constant state of stress.
Caffeine produces the same effect on the body. This can produce a state
of adrenal exhaustion. Your caffeine consumption has simply pushed your
adrenal glands so much that they've burned out.
Despite what the
coffee and fitness industry claims about the benefits of coffee, over
time it takes more and more caffeine to produce the same results,
creating an addiction. Most people, especially fitness buffs, attempt
to argue the point that it speeds up the metabolism and helps to lose
weight. Caffeine does help to lose weight, but simply because it is a
diuretic and forces you to expel large amounts of water. Losing the
water weight will in turn make you dehydrated and cause a whole new set
of problems. Yes it speeds up the metabolism, because it is a
stimulant! What happens when you use a stimulant over and over? You
start taking it slowly, but as your body develops a tolerance to it,
you need more and more to feel the same effects. Eventually, your body
reaches a point where it can't be without it; otherwise, you will start
to experience withdrawal symptoms.
Coffee, whether it be regular
or decaf, (Sorry decaf lovers, but decaf coffee has some of the same
problems!) irritates the stomach lining and puts the body in an acidic
state, causing the body to leach calcium from the bones to alkalize the
bloodstream. .In other words, coffee affects your body just like any
other drug, with long term negative consequences that can produce a
host of illnesses within the body.
The bottom line is that coffee
is a medicinal herb that was never meant for every day consumption.
Although it has a few up sides; slight increased metabolic rate,
diuretic, and improves alertness, it has far more negative effects on
the body; dehydration, adrenal fatigue, increased blood pressure,
acidic body causing osteoporosis, irritates the stomach lining, and
keeps the body in a high stress state. If you need coffee to make it
through a day of sitting at a desk, you are obviously not in good
health and should consider other ways to increase energy, mainly
through nutrition and exercise.
