Welcome to the second of my twice monthly re-vamped updates – the priority here is minimum read time, maximum benefit!

Today … coffee. Now before you disappear and do something else so as not to have your daily pick-me-up taken away, this isn’t my aim!

Coffee has many benefits – some research is showing reducing incidence of certain cancers, diabetes type 2, neurodegenerative disease, inflammation even depression as well as improvements to cognitive function.

However, it also causes the adrenals to release cortisol – which can reduce the body’s ability to deal with stress over time. This also means it can raise anxiety and fatigue for some.

So like most foods and drinks, they key is finding the balance between what is helpful and what is not. So if you currently don’t drink coffee then there’s probably not much point in starting, however if you do and you find it helpful then probably no reason to stop. However, if you get jittery after drinking it, are particularly stressed or tired or drink more than  a few cups a day then this could be a good time to experiment with reducing or stopping altogether. The key is to notice the differences when you reduce or stop, how do you feel?

From my own experience, reducing is MUCH easier than stopping altogether – stopping can be quite brutal and take a number of days to get past the withdrawl effects like fatigue, irritability and headaches. However, we’re all different so give it a try and see what works for you, if you dare!

Thanks for reading and please share if you think this can be of benefit to others.

Simon