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Counteracting coffee
Traditionally coffee was a herb used to increase stamina, mental alertness, concentration and energy levels. If used appropriately it can be quite a therapeutic herb, however, in today's society it is often over consumed. The commercialisation of coffee can exploit the addictive qualities of caffeine and modern production techniques often use many chemicals and pesticides due to a high demand for supply. One cup of coffee contains between 65-100mg of caffeine. Caffeine has many detrimental effects to the body some of these are adrenal exhaustion, nausea, heart palpitations, dehydration, heart burn, insomnia, migraines, anxiety, bladder and kidney irritation and constipation. Coffee may also increase the risk of osteoporosis and hypertension if over consumed. If used excessively coffee's negative effects outweigh its benefits.
A cup of coffee depletes up to 2 cups of water from the body and reduces kidney filtration. Although there is no substance which is able to completely neutralise the negative effects of coffee, one rule of thumb to help counteract dehydration and kidney irritation is - drink 2 glasses of water to every cup of coffee .
Some healthy diet tips to minimise the adverse effects of drinking caffeine:
- Reduce your consumption of coffee and always use a quality, organic, pesticide free brand. We also recommend fair trade coffee for extra good karma points
- The herb Zizyphus has been used to reverse the stimulating effects of caffeine
- Replace caffeine based drinks (coffee, black tea, green tea, coke) with decaffinated coffee or herbal teas. Some great alternatives to coffee which encourage liver detoxification and provide anti-oxidants are Dandelion root, Ecco, Burdock, Chicory, Teccino, Malted Barley, Genmaicha, Cafix, Pero, or Peppermint
- Begin each day with a warm glass of water with ½ lemon squeezed in it. Lemon has an affinity for the bowels and liver to increase elimination, cleansing and detoxification processes
- Coffee is extremely astringent and when taken prior to meals it decreases the amount of digestive enzymes produced in the stomach. This means that it reduces the amounts of foods your body is able to break down and this contributes to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, especially Calcium and Magnesium. Always drink coffee at least 20 minutes after a meal or between meals, never before eating
- Choose fair trade, organic coffee for a guilt free pleasure
- Use coffee medicinally. Rather than drinking 3-4 cups of poor quality coffee each day, purchase a quality coffee which is tastier and satisfies and enjoy one cup each day.