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A microscopic view of caffeine crystals and why the world’s favorite stimulant is anything but harmless to the physiology of those who consume it.
Take a close look at the picture above.
Does this look friendly to you? Think with your gut – literally.
Is this something that you think your body would welcome if you consumed it frequently and in large quantities?
Do you think this would be health-promoting in any way?
Caffeine is a Plant Pesticide
Even without knowing a single thing about caffeine, it is abundantly clear by simply looking at this astonishing electron micrograph of caffeine crystals that this substance is very likely a toxin to the body. These insidious crystals are found in varying quantities in the leaves, seeds, and even the fruit of some plants and guess for what purpose?
To stun, paralyze, and even kill insects that feed on the plant for food.
In short, caffeine is a natural pesticide. It is certainly not on the toxic magnitude, of say, Monsanto’s Roundup, but it is a pesticide just the same.
If insects are instinctively smart enough to avoid plants containing caffeine to ensure their own survival, don’t you think you probably should avoid it too?
Caffeine Increases Stomach Acid Levels
Let’s think about what happens when you consume caffeine.
Caffeine increases stomach acid production. While this is not necessarily a bad thing if you just ate, it can cause problems over time if excessive stomach acid becomes a constant feature of your personal biochemistry.
Acid reflux (GERD) is one symptom of imbalanced stomach acid levels and Prilosec, the over the counter medication for this condition is one of the most popular drugs stolen by organized retail crime (ORC) rings – indirect but telling evidence of the widespread nature of reflux problems today.
Could the reflux epidemic be associated with all those Starbucks and Red Bulls folks are consuming? Remember the gal who recently put herself in the ER by drinking too many 5 Hour Energy Shots?
The high demand and dependence on PPI drugs (proton pump inhibitors) like Prilosec or a 24-hour drug like Nexium do not come without a heavy price!
Undesired weight gain is one of the associative side effects of long term treatment with PPI drugs as reported and published in the peer-reviewed World Journal of Gastroenterology.
Once on the purple pill for reflux, always on the purple pill. The outlook is bleak and a ballooning backside is on the horizon unless you take charge and make some changes – losing the caffeine being Job #1.
Caffeine Whacks the Adrenals
Even folks who are seriously health-conscious seem to have trouble shaking the caffeine habit which never ceases to surprise me.
Those who eat low carb, keto or paleo seem to have a particularly difficult time managing caffeine intake perhaps because caffeine stimulates the liver to release sugar into the bloodstream, in essence, a way to get carbs without actually eating them!
Don’t forget about the 5 Hour Energy Shot junkie who ended up in the ER. Let the lesson ring clear. Her liver started to shut down from all that caffeine because she was drinking about 10 of those suckers per day for 2 weeks straight!
I know several people on a first name basis who are not far behind that insane level of caffeine consumption and I’m sure you do too. Just because it doesn’t put you in the ER doesn’t mean it’s not hurting you badly.
One thing’s for sure. If your diet is making you so tired that you need caffeine to indirectly boost your blood sugar and artificially stimulate your adrenals, you’ve got a problem and the diet you’re following is clearly not optimal for you. Time to do some tweaking my health-conscious friends!
C’mon. You know a big plate of sprouted waffles would be totally, rockin’ AWESOME.
There’s no doubt a plate of sprouted waffles – YES – even every single morning would be a more healthful habit than that coffee addiction. Don’t fool yourself and rob Peter to pay Paul.
Frequent stimulation of the adrenal glands from caffeine eventually leads to adrenal exhaustion whether this be at age 20 or age 60. If you’ve been drinking coffee for years and think you are “just fine thank you”, think again. Feeling bone tired and not being able to get off the couch to do much of anything could be just around the corner as hormonal problems can strike suddenly and seemingly out of the blue (just ask any menopausal woman). It is the sleeping giant you best not ignore.
Other symptoms of adrenal exhaustion include lack of physical endurance and stamina, weight gain, reduced ability to handle stress, impairment of calcium absorption, and depression of immunity.
Probably most worrisome is the blood sugar issues caffeine exacerbates as mentioned earlier. Caffeine stimulates the liver to release stored sugars into the bloodstream which then has an effect on the body’s overall ability to regulate blood sugar levels.
The hormonal system requires such a delicate balance that caffeine’s negative effect on the adrenals can’t help but create hormonal challenges in the body over time. Dr. Bruce Rind MD, a holistic endocrinologist notes that the health of the thyroid gland and the adrenal glands are inextricably linked. If one goes south, the other one probably will too.
So the next time you reach for that cup of joe, chocolate bar, espresso, or energy drink, think about the picture above with all the spikes and points and imagine what this plant pesticide is really doing to your insides.
Ouch!
What about kombucha? I know you recommend that, is all the caffeine consumed by the SCOBY during the fermentation?
What about caffeine’s effects on testosterone and estrogen? I’ve recently read that it can whack the T by increasing estrogen?
I’m so glad I’ve never like caffine. Anything people can’t get through the day without – can’t be a good thing!
But I love Caffine!
I am a confirmed coffee drinker. I’ve quit drinking it several times over the years – once for about a year (via a 3 1/2 day water fast) – but sooner or later, I always return to coffee. It usually isn’t for the so called “high,” but rather, it’s because I simply love coffee, and I like it strong – I even like grinding my organic coffee beans fresh every morning because it smells so good, and the coffee tastes so much better. Coffee substitutes never came close to the taste of coffee in spite of their creative marketing, and I don’t enjoy decaf, nor any tea (except as Kombucha). Over the years, I’ve tried everything I could afford to try to stop drinking coffee because I believed the negative hype that there is nothing beneficial about coffee, and felt guilty for drinking it. But **nothing** takes the place of coffee for me. [I follow my black coffee several minutes later with raw milk Kefir, then later, Kombucha or KombuCafé (made with coffee rather than tea, and it’s delicious too!).] Kombucha causes me some acid discomfort (so does some raw fruit), but my strong black coffee does not.
Our body’s nutritional intricacies are myriad and mind boggling. Trying to figure out everything just right is frustrating, can strip one’s life of pleasure, and is, I believe, impossible to achieve. Additionally, as science has now proven, we really are all different, so sure, some people should avoid all caffeine consumption, but that probably isn’t true for all of us, anymore than gluten is a problem for all of us, or oxalates are a problem for all of us, etc.
And speaking of science, I am very disappointed that you commented to the effect that science was being used to justify an unhealthy habit. I find that troubling, and not just because I love coffee, but rather, because it makes you sound prejudiced against coffee consumption, and anyone who would defend it on even a scientific basis. There IS plenty of scientific evidence now to show that coffee drinking can be highly beneficial for some people, maybe even most people. Ori Hofmekler, who is very health conscious, studied coffee science, because he likes his coffee so much, and what he found is quite interesting and informative. For those who are interested, here’s a link: http://tinyurl.com/3dj9fk3 Dr, Mercola followed up with two more articles on coffee’s benefits here: http://tinyurl.com/7qo2l95 and here: http://tinyurl.com/3g4ezas Additionally, coffee’s benefits are reported at ScienceDaily here: and Chemistry World: http://tinyurl.com/4x8s7zp And finally, the BulletproofExec.com has multiple articles on the benefits of coffee, and how to make sure that it is healthy coffee. And I’m sure that there are plenty more positive science-based articles out there, but this will do for a start.
I am also disappointed that you *seem* to be lumping energy drinks, coffee and tea into the same category because they all contain caffeine. I don’t believe that’s fair, because the energy drinks contain caffeine isolate – and at very high levels – whereas coffee and tea do not contain isolated caffeine, and the caffeine level is much lower. To me, that’s a lot like saying that all milk is the same.
I couldn’t agree more – this is very well written.
I’m having a hard time understanding why Sarah is so *sure* of herself on this one, when there is so much conflicting information out there on caffeine. Saying that the caffeine is the ‘pesticide’ of the plant and should be avoided is a weak argument, because many plants we consume have natural pesticides or deterrents in them. It must greatly depend on what a person’s system can handle or not. The other argument about blood sugar – again a very weak argument since the blood sugar spike from coffee is very much dependent on the other substances in the body. I’m dumbfounded that she is *sure* that caffeine is an evil that must be avoided and continues to argue blindly and close-mindedly with all commenters about it. This actually prevented me from commenting, but I liked yours so much, I felt inclined to respond. Thanks!
One plant pesticides are insect and animal specific, this is so there very seed is carried by the right insect/animal humans having very similar digestive organs as monkey are adapted so that we don’t get harmed by caffeine instead we get a bug, dose makes the poison even water in the right dose kills.
here’s vitamin C:
http://images.photoresearchers.com/photos/preview/sc/sc3487.jpg
looks like lots of things in plants are jagged 🙂
There are different kinds of caffeine according to Dr. Nicholas Perrone. The caffeine in coffee activates cortisol, the stress/death hormone, locking up your body’s ability to burn stored fat no matter how hungry you are. Hence the difficulty losing weight. The caffeine in green tea doesn’t do this. If you switch from coffee to green tea you will likely see an effortless 5 lb weight loss. I’m disappointed you’d write an article about caffeine without knowing/mentioning this.
Well, Asian countries have been drinking tea on a daily basis for thousands of years, and they obviously haven’t suffered for it. I don’t drink coffee, but I’m a daily tea drinker, and it doesn’t bother me at all, and I have’t had heartburn in YEARS, and I don’t have any digestive issues, either. When I did have heartburn, it was from my crappy diet. Cleaned up the diet, and I haven’t had it again.
There are those who are super sensitive to caffeine, and then there are the rest of us, who have no issues with it whatsoever as long as we don’t overdue.
There’s a huge difference between enjoying 1-2 cups of coffee and tea everyday, and practically living on the stuff and making it your only source of hydration. I do know people who seriously only drink coffee throughout the day, and they suffer from all kinds of problems. Energy drinks are far worse.
I just choose to be smart about my caffeine intake, not banish it from my life completely. Tea is much too enjoyable and beneficial for that!
After having my 3rd child, all of a sudden I had hyperthyroidism. Didn’t know where it came
from all of a sudden. Then I was diagnosed as an anemic, with severe heart palpatations.
I started taking Spirulina along with my fermented cod liver oil pills, anemia – gone (blood level count back to 12 from 6). Hyperthyroidism – gone. but I still have heart palpitations once in awhile, now I know, it’s the coffee, like I suspected. Thanks, Sarah
Sarah, can you please advise the daily 1 cup, 2 stevias and organic half & half coffee drinkers, on what to subsitute? I really love your blog and respect your views.
P.S. I’m prepared to go through the couple of days of body shock (headaches) to replace or just rid the coffee completely.
Sarah, I enjoy the comments section of your blog as much as the posts! Always get a few good laughs and many benefits from hearing all the arguments.
My simple take on caffeine is “what goes up, must come down.” Anything that gives you a high comes with a price tag: crash. Problem is, with such addictive substances, the crash lasts longer and pretty much cancels out the benefits of the “high.” So too much of anything that gives you a high will destroy your health in the long term.
For me, the solution is knowledge and self-control, not necessarily quitting. The effects of alcohol, for instance, are well-documented, and people are constantly encouraged and educated to consume responsibly. Most are aware of its long-term damaging effects and choose to imbibe responsibly or irresponsibly. The facts are plastered all over warning labels and TV commercials and no longer even controversial. Many people are self-defined “alcoholics” and won’t touch a drop of the stuff. And this is right for some people and can save their life.
But the dangers of too many refined sugars and caffeine, and the highly addictive quality of both of those substances, is still fiercely and frequently debated. So thanks for putting the truth so plainly and in a way that gets people’s attention!
Personally, I have the occasional cup of decaf coffee and still get a buzz from that. But chocolate I can’t eat at all. I love the taste, but it makes me cranky. My wife still has some in moderation, and it doesn’t seem to affect her as badly.