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The best time in the morning to drink coffee to encourage the production of serotonin and maintain a balanced mood all day long.
I spent the entire first day at the International Wise Traditions Conference one year camped out in the room where Julia Ross was speaking.
Julia Ross is the acclaimed author of the books The Mood Cure and The Diet Cure.
It was my first opportunity to hear her speak, and I was not disappointed.
I took boatloads of notes that day and have enough material for several blog posts which I will write up in the coming weeks.
Today, however, I want to specifically address Julia’s discussion about coffee.
Julia Ross’ take on coffee is different from other speakers I have listened to before.
I wanted to share her warning about it because I think it’s something most coffee drinkers have no idea about.
Julia says that her main objection is that people drink coffee first thing in the morning when they get up. This typically results in skipping breakfast altogether because coffee is a strong appetite suppressant.
Not to mention that coffee reduces (not increases as popularly believed) blood flow to the brain by about 25%.
Worst Time for Coffee is First Thing in the Morning
Skipping breakfast is a big no-no and not just because it increases your chances of overeating especially starches and sugars later in the day.
Skipping your morning meal does a number on your body’s ability to produce the neurotransmitter serotonin which is derived from the amino acid tryptophan. Â
Tryptophan, like all the amino acids, is contained in protein. Â
Meat is the best source of tryptophan but only from animals roaming on pasture (corn contains almost NO tryptophan so don’t eat beef from corn fed cattle or eggs from primarily corn/soy fed chickens).
Protein (food)  —–> Tryptophan (amino acid) —–> Serotonin (neurotransmitter)  —–> Melatonin (hormone for restful sleep)
Serotonin is what helps you feel happy, calm, and self-confident even in the face of stress
. Moreover, ample serotonin is important for a restful night’s sleep as the body converts serotonin into melatonin at dusk.  Inadequate melatonin results in insomnia problems.
Skipping breakfast in the morning short circuits the body’s ability to produce adequate serotonin throughout the day. Â
While eating protein later in the day definitely helps, your body still ends up playing serotonin catch up all day every day due to missing breakfast.
Julia says that we all need about 20-30 grams of protein 3X per day to fulfill our body’s requirement for amino acids in order to produce adequate neurotransmitters like serotonin. Â
If you are already deficient in serotonin, supplementation may be required for a short time to regain neurological balance.
This topic of neurotransmitters tends to get rather complicated, but the bottom line is this:
If you must drink coffee, then at the very least, wait until after breakfast to do it!
This way, the impact on your serotonin levels will not be as severe as drinking coffee first thing in the morning and skipping breakfast due to the appetite-suppressing effects.
You may find that this one simple change alone will help balance emotions the rest of the day.
Feelings of happiness, emotional flexibility, and stress reduction are common once this simple change is made.
How to Replenish Serotonin
Do you suspect that your serotonin levels are in the tank and you need neurotransmitter supplementation?
Clues would be that you grapple with worry, anxiety, OCD thoughts or actions, depression, panic attacks, and/or chronic insomnia.
In that situation, Julia Ross recommends this dosage with the amino acid tryptophan:
- 5-HTP (suggested source): Â 50 mg in the mid-afternoon and before bedtime.
OR
- L-tryptophan (suggested source): 500 mg in the mid-afternoon and again before bed especially if insomnia is a problem.
Note that 5-HTP is cheaper than L-tryptophan but some people get nausea from it, so switch to L-tryptophan if 5-HTP doesn’t work for you.
For children, start with a fraction of the dose above and only use L-tryptophan.
Raise the dosage as needed to eliminate low serotonin symptoms.
Next Steps
Once you’ve put off AM coffee until after you eat, you might perhaps feel motivated to try to shake the habit completely.
According to Julia Ross, people who crave chocolate, coffee, alcohol, and even exercise are typically low in the neurotransmitter endorphin.
Using supplementation of amino acids that are precursors to endorphin may help in trying to shake the coffee habit completely. These include:
- Amino acid d-phenylalanine (DPA) (suggested source): 500 mg, 2-4X/day. Use DPA if you are a daily coffee drinker and also an anxious person.
OR
- Amino acid d-phenylalanine (DPA) bound to the amino acid I-phenylalanine (LPA) – known in combination as DLPA (suggested source):   500 mg, 2-3X/day. Use DLPA if you crave the energizing effects of coffee and are not typically an anxious person.
Do you think a deficiency of neurotransmitters might be the reason some folks love their coffee so much?
Are you game to try changing when you drink AM coffee to help balance brain chemistry? Or, does it make more sense to switch to a noncaffeinated beverage like dandelion coffee instead?
Please share your thoughts on this and personal experience in the comments!
More Information
The Truth About Your Morning Coffee Fix
How Bulletproof Coffee Shoots You in the Foot
Thanks for this post. I have recently begun to drink coffee again (half-coffee, half raw or low-temp pasteurized cream and coconut nectar if I sweeten it.) and I have it with my usual big breakfast. Most mornings it’s eggs, cooked in butter, with goat cheese on top and avocado on the side. If I ever drink coffee alone in the mornings (but only in the mornings) it upsets my stomach.
My morning routine goes like this, i wake up and have a cup of water with the juice of 1 lemon to clean my liver, then about an hr later i have a kefir smoothie, then i have my coffee , witch is half decaf( swiss water method) & raw cream & some sugar in it. This routine seems to suite me.
I used to drink coffee — with coffeemate as the “sweetener, creamer and flavor” but would always feel sick afterward. I thought it tasted amazing, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the smell of coffee. However, I hated feeling sick.
Hubby would also drink (he is the one who got me started) coffee and he would drink coffee in PLACE of breakfast. I don’t drink coffee anymore, but have at least gotten him into putting raw milk and Stevia into his DE-CAF coffee instead of coffeemate, and he does eat breakfast, but not until around 10am. He does drink coffee throughout the day though. Probably a pot a day (Which is why I switched him to de-caf). Not the best, but a lot better than before he met me. (slow progress…. you know they say you can’t change a man but you sure can try!)
Yes, I love the smell of coffee too 🙂 I can’t drink it though as it really unbalances my body chemistry.
“decay coffee” = interesting lapsus?
Another fact about coffee/caffeine: Coffee does NOT give you energy. Your body reacts to the chemical in coffee (caffeine) by increasing metabolic rate to quickly and safely remove the poison from your system. This gives a false sense of “energy.” What is happening in reality is that the caffeine is sapping one’s energy as the body must USE energy to speed up metabolism in the eliminatory process; hence the DOWN feeling one notices when the caffeine has safely been removed from the system. Only a living organism can react to a substance. A non-living substance cannot produce anything as it is NOT ALIVE. Caffeine is nothing more than a chemical upon which the body acts in an attempt to free itself of poison.
Thanks for such a detailed post. I’ve some to terms with my own coffee debate by drinking a cup a day. Moderation. But I’m always a big breakfast eater, believing in big breakfast, smaller lunch, and even smaller dinner (when schedule allows). It sounds as if what you are saying is it’s not the coffee that changes the chemicals, but the lack of eating breakfast caused by the appetite suppressant in the coffee?
This is VERY interesting, Sarah. Thank you. This really got my attention:
“According to Julia Ross, people who crave chocolate, coffee, alcohol and even exercise are typically low in the neurotransmitter endorphin. Using supplementation of those amino acids that are precursors to endorphin may really help in trying to shake the coffee habit.”
I think eating healthier (WAPF) has helped me a lot. And for some reason I recently have begun drinking coffee, BUT have figured out to treat it like I do a glass of wine – with a meal, or after a meal, not on an empty stomach. And not every day, and with fresh milk in it – at least 1/2 milk to weak coffee. I take DLPA for pain issues, and it has been a tremendous help!!! This health & healing process is a journey, thank you for some help & insight along the way!
Sounds like you’ve got a handle on what moderation is all about! 🙂
Well, not quite, but I’m working at it! I’ve come a long way and try to seek moderation these days vs. perfection (aka: rainbow thinking vs black/white thinking!). Oh my, perfection seeking makes life unpleasant, as it is not even possible! 🙂
Do you have a good source for the DLPA?
Lynn, I have used Professional Supplement Center to get mine. I think it was Pure Encapsulations, but I don’t recall now. I had to switch to Vitacost brand to save money, and a friend gave me some of hers from Pilgrim’s (she couldn’t take them). My Dr. put me on it, and I tried getting off of it (due to reading Julia Ross’s book, she says you only need to take it awhile) but the 2 times I did, I ended up with the pain again. So, I just take it everyday for now.
Thanks so much Amy! I will definitely check them out.
Happy to help, Lynn! It’s been a real God-send for me!
This is nonsense. The overwhelming evidence is that coffee has health benefits that far outweigh any negative side effects.
I agree with you 100% Jesse. i do intermittent fasting Which I don’t need much food from dinner all away to 18 hours later. And my energy it’s amazing I have so much energy To do anything I need all day . And one cup or two of organic coffee. Makes my day better I do not crave coffee And I never cared for coffee . And I can absolutely lived fine without coffee if I have to . I only started drinking coffee couple years ago .
Coffee is okay, it’s really when you drink it depending on the caffeine amount yours has. I have noticed though that if I just have coffee and raw milk as breakfast, I end up crashing at the end of the day. Bad idea. That tells me right there that the best way for me to drink coffee is if I have food first,
I don’t know what to say anymore. I came from Europe and growing up as a child I we never had breakfast. I started eating breakfast seven years ago. When I came to United States All my food comes from the local farmers it’s all organic My diet it’s absolutely 100% clean. I get my raw milk from a local farm . From the same farm I get my raw butter my eggs and grass fed beef. I eat plenty of vegetables dark green vegetables And a lot of fat. I am also construction worker For past two years I quit eating breakfast and I feel so good so much energized And I don’t feel sleepy Afternoon no more . I used to eat for breakfast the highest quality proteins and vegetables I could get . No grains or Starches. I will tell you my personal experience with breakfast Was one of the biggest mistakes I did. And I will never go back eating breakfast like I used to . Speaking of coffee Coffee does not suppress my appetite I drink one cup of coffee a day And seems to do just fine for me.
I do think that men tend to do better with coffee than women do as a general but not a black and white rule. This has just been my observation over the years.
There’s plenty of good research out there that also supports postponing breakfast (your nightly fast-break) to noon or later. I tend to eat breakfast when I’m hungry. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later.