Do you suffer from any of these?
Sleep & Mood Disturbance
Caffeine can interfere with sleep either by causing insomnia or by shortening the duration and depth of sleep. People metabolize caffeine at different rates and the sleep of some people can still be affected even though they last consumed caffeine 8 – 12 hours before sleep. Women on birth control pills and people taking pharmaceutical drugs metabolize caffeine much more slowly because caffeine and drugs both have to be detoxified in the liver. Anyone experiencing sleep problems should try eliminating caffeine from their diet as part of a program to restore restful sleep.
Anxiety, nervousness, irritability, and impatience can all be aggravated by caffeine. Depression can result as a withdrawal symptom from an absence of caffeine in caffeine addicted individuals. People can be unaware of the effect of caffeine on their mood until family members of co-workers complain of their caffeine driven behavior. People with mood disturbances may find that nutritional and herbal support during caffeine weaning will help rebalance their brain chemistry and relieve the symptoms of depression.
Weight Loss
A number of diets such as The Fat Flush Plan by Ann Louise Gittleman, The Rosedale Diet by Ron Rosedale, M.D., and The Perricone Prescription by Nicholas Perricone, M.D. advise their followers to quit caffeine to help their weight loss process. There are documented scientific reasons that support the premise that caffeine interferes with weight loss programs. To read a professional paper on the effects of coffee and caffeine on weight loss, click here. A quick summary of the paper’s main points follows:
Caffeine elevates stress hormones. People tend to eat when feeling stressed and this thwarts their diet goals.
Caffeine triggers hypoglycemia and increases appetite. Weight loss diets are designed to achieve stable blood sugar without insulin spikes. Caffeine raises blood sugar, which can result in subsequent low blood sugar that drives people to eat high fat, refined carbohydrate foods to get a quick energy boost.
Caffeine aggravates Insulin Resistance Syndrome. Obesity, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and cellular insensitivity to insulin are part of a syndrome that can lead to the development of Type 2 diabetes. Caffeine contributes to insulin resistance and impairs glucose tolerance. 41 million Americans are considered to be pre-diabetic and are advised to adapt healthy lifestyle and dietary habits to avoid progressing to type 2 diabetes.
Approximately 20% of the population is caffeine sensitive. Even just a few milligrams of caffeine will set off an immediate reaction. People who have no problem drinking coffee all day long simply can’t understand how dramatically caffeine sensitive people respond to the slightest bit of caffeine. If you’re caffeine sensitive, you may have any number of reactions to caffeine, but the most common ones are:
Feelings of anxiety, nervousness and irritability
Rapid speech
The jitters
Sleeplessness even though the caffeine was consumed many hours before
Incessant thinking and restlessness that interferes with relaxing
Other extreme forms of caffeine sensitivity may cause unique symptoms such as:
Obsessive compulsive behavior
Paranoia
Phobias
Skin rashes and other allergic symptoms
Muscular pain and tension including neck and back pain
If you suspect you are caffeine sensitive, the best test is to completely eliminate caffeine from your diet. If the symptoms that are bothering you disappear, you’re among the 20% who learn to avoid caffeinated beverages and coffee flavored foods.