Janine S. Rodrigues | Singular Nutrition Services – When coffee becomes a health issue – is your anxiety related to coffee consumption?

blog 12/04/2023

When coffee becomes a health issue – is your anxiety related to coffee consumption?

Are you concerned coffee might be affecting your health? It is not uncommon to hear about how coffee affects our health. Several sources say we shouldn’t be drinking it. In some, coffee can increase anxiety levels and make the person jittery. Some people metabolize coffee very quickly, explaining why it doesn’t affect everyone the same way. Caffeine happens to be a xanthine alkaloid and acts as a natural pesticide in plants (“Caffeine,” 2012), and the liver metabolizes it. How good is your liver at metabolizing caffeine?

But what else does coffee do the body? According to Gaby, in a study with more than three thousand subjects, their CRP was elevated in those who consumed more than 200ml of coffee a day compared to non-drinkers of coffee (Gaby, 2017). What is CRP? CRP stands for C-reactive protein, and it is a marker that indicates an inflammatory process in the body (C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Test, n.d.). You can read more about it here.

Let’s also not forget that coffee is a plant, and the way it is grown impacts its nutritional content. Have you ever thought that buying organic coffee might be a better idea? I remember reading that non-organic coffee contains more than one hundred unwanted contaminants.

It is also interesting to note that elevated lactic acid levels can contribute to panic attacks, unmanaged anxiety, and caffeine. Murray and Pizzorno point out this is one of the nutritional factors that increase lactate levels (Murray & Pizzorno, 2012). See the correlation between imbalances caused by certain nutrients and symptoms? Murray and Pizzorno correlate the avoidance of alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and food allergens to relieve anxiety symptoms.

Another point to consider when evaluating if coffee is good for you is how much coffee you are drinking. Is it several cups of coffee per day? Or one cup? How was it prepared? So maybe switching to drinking organic coffee and fewer amounts would be beneficial and an excellent way to start rebalancing your body’s biochemistry. More than perfection, progress is vital in nutrition and re-educating our palate.

References
Caffeine. (2012). In LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559835/

C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Test: MedlinePlus Medical Test. (n.d.). Retrieved May 11, 2022, from https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/c-reactive-protein-crp-test/

Gaby, A. (2017). Nutritional medicine (Second edition). Fritz Perlberg Publishing.

Murray, M. T., & Pizzorno, J. E. (2012). The encyclopedia of natural medicine (Rev. 3rd ed). Atria Books.