Coffee. To whom? How much? When?

About the products/17 January 2021

Coffee is my second favorite drink after water. You ask me a lot of questions about coffee and in this article I will pay attention to the details that will help you understand whether you should include this drink in your diet or not.

1. Caffeine Metabolism

The easiest test to determine if you should be addicted to coffee is how fast you go to the restroom after drinking it. The fact is that the caffeine in coffee is metabolized in our liver to dimethylxanthine, which has diuretic properties. The high rate of dimethylxanthine formation means that caffeine is broken down quickly, meaning that a person is able to metabolize it quickly and the negative effects of caffeine exposure and its interaction with receptors will be minimal. If a person does not quickly visit the restroom after drinking a cup of coffee, then the likelihood of caffeine exhibiting its negative properties will be much higher.

2. Genetic Test

If you want to know with 100% accuracy how quickly you metabolize caffeine, you can take a genetic test to determine a polymorphism in cytochrome CYP1A2. Once determined, you will know whether you are a fast metabolizer of caffeine, or a slow metabolizer. If there is a polymorphism in cytochrome 1A2, a person is a slow metabolizer of caffeine, which means you should give up coffee altogether or consume no more than one cup not every day. In case the rate of metabolism turned out to be high, then a person can afford an adequate dose of caffeine per day, getting even beneficial actions of caffeine lying in the plane of antioxidant effects of it on the body.

3. Caffeine Dosage

An adequate dose is 1-3 mg/kg. That’s 1.5 cups of filter coffee or 1-2 espressos.

3. Optimal time for consumption

Everyone has a concept of a circadian rhythm during the day where there are two peaks of cortisol release (a stress hormone that raises blood pressure, gives a burst of energy), but additional stimulation of cortisol release a person needs to avoid.
The first peak of cortisol release occurs between 6-8 am and that is when a person wakes up even without an alarm clock, the second peak, less pronounced, occurs around lunchtime. Therefore, it is recommended to consume coffee 1.5-2 hours after you wake up and immediately after lunch. It is not advisable to consume coffee after 16:00, because on average the metabolism of caffeine takes 8-10 hours, and its invigorating effect in the evening is not very necessary, because in most cases it can provoke insomnia.

4. Caffeine Drowsiness

Among my readers there are probably some people who experience a paradoxical effect of coffee. After consuming caffeine, a person may conversely have a strong desire to sleep. What is the secret of this paradoxical effect, the so-called coffee sleepiness?
Coffee in its structure is similar to adenosine, which has a relaxing effect on the body. Because of this similarity, coffee can interact with the receptors for adenosine very quickly. If you are in a state of chronic fatigue, permanent stress, exhausted, adenosine will be abundant and the body will dictate that you recover quickly. Large amounts of adenosine will very quickly sweep caffeine out of its receptors and cause this paradoxical drowsiness effect. In this situation, don’t count on that invigorating short-term effect of coffee being good for you. Caffeine should be discarded here, because in this particular case it will deplete you even more.

5. Alternatives to caffeine

I recommend giving up caffeine during the planning of treatment protocols.
The thing to realize here is that caffeine in coffee and caffeine in tea are two different effects on the body.
The main difference is the amino acid L-theanine, which is found in teas. This amino acid has a calming effect, so when tea is consumed, the effects of caffeine are smoother and more even, with no sudden changes. This includes all teas from white to puerh.

Caffeine is not only found in coffee and teas, it is found in chocolate and many other foods. The key is to remember the maximum dosage during the day and the timing of caffeine intake.

Caffeine-free alternatives can be:

• chicory
• sagan-daila - leaves that have a delicate flavor and a very invigorating effect. They are easy to brew and are often added to herbal concoctions
• willow tea
• herbal collections

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