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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
Guess this is a topic I don’t care to overthink, lol. I never cared for coffee until I was pregnant with my 3rd child (sausage either, for that matter…funny how those two cravings developed then). Now I drink one cup per day, WITH my breakfast (which I never skip unless fasting for labwork or such). Once in a while, I might have a second cup (usually decaf). So I don’t put much stock in this particular theory.
It’s interesting to me how if you suggested that eating a donut or two every morning is a problem and indicates a sugar addiction, that most people would agree even if they were in the habit of doing this themselves. People don’t get defensive over a sugar addiction in my experience. However, suggesting that a cup or two of coffee every single morning is a problem and indicative of coffee addiction is another matter entirely. Some people just get very defensive about their coffee. Not sure why this is.
For some, it might be because they are sensitive about something they are addicted to. For others, it might simply be the same reaction you’d get if you suggested that they give up their morning eggs because they are high in cholesterol.
I read a book about 15 years ago on caffeine addiction and it is an addiction and people do not like to go through withdrawals. They are mild compared to say heroine, yup, I’m likening it to hardcore drugs, but it’s still a drug. I tried numerous times to go off of coffee only to hate the withdrawals so much I just gave up. It was having Fibromyalgia and such severe pain and fatigue from that, that sent me to an acupuncturist who convinced me to get off coffee. That time I was successful because my Fibro symptoms were already so bad I didn’t notice any withdrawals. It took two weeks for my body to get off the stockpile of caffeine in my system but boy did I notice a total difference in how much calmer I was and happy. I did switch to a mild green tea which when I don’t get a cup first thing in the morning, does not give me any withdrawals, so therefore not addicted.
Cassie Hutto drinking coffee as you describe every once in awhile because you enjoy the flavor is not a problem in my opinion.
Hi Sarah! This is my first time to your blog, although I’ve viewed your informative videos (: I too am sensitive to coffee, although I desperately LOVE it. I keep it to just a demi-tasse of 1/2 and 1/2 with a generous dollop of heavy Amish cream.
My comment has to do with your contention that eating breakfast is so important. I feel just awful if I eat before about 11am. This used to concern me until I heard Dr. Natasha Campbell-Mcbride say that the body is still in cleansing mode until late morning, and many people are not hungry before then. She advocates not eating until you’re truly hungry, even if that means ‘skipping’ breakfast.
Now I don’t consider eating at 11am to be skipping breakfast, I just consider it brunch! I will often have my mini-coffee with that meal and feel not any ill effects. If I have it on an empty stomach first thing in the morning however, I’m wrecked.
Also, Dr. Mercola advocates ‘intermittent fasting’ which he says can mean not eating for 16 hours after dinner. For me, and probably many others, this translates to not eating until 11am! He says this kind of mini-fast can have amazing benefits for the entire metabolism, and I have to agree that I feel great on this kind of schedule.
Also, many traditional cultures consume only two meals a day. I think it’s very important to make sure that both of those meals are extremely nutrient dense, but clearly calorie restriction has been shown to increase longevity. I typically eat something like two pastured eggs & bacon with a slice of homemade sourdough slathered in butter and chicken liver pate for brunch, and something equally nourishing for dinner. Sometimes I’ll have a few slices of pastured Amish cheese on a thin slice of well buttered sourdough and a small glass of kombucha for a snack at say, 2:30 in the afternoon.
Not to be contrary to Dr. Ross’ opinion, but I don’t think any one eating schedule will work for all, and that Dr. Mcbride is closer to accurate when she advises folks to eat when they’re hungry.
And hey, coffee is a traditional food in many parts of the world! We might as well give up cinnamon and coconut if we’re only going to eat and drink what grows on our own continent, right?
A.
I don’t see how this is fear-mongering. She’s trying to be helpful and maybe teach you something you didn’t know. Instead of getting defensive, open your mind.
Personal Observations From Living Abroad:
It is highly unusual for most people from other cultures to drink coffee/espresso on an empty stomach, let alone first thing in the morning. An espresso or coffee is normally consumed after a large meal (such as lunch). Tea or cafè is for afternoon teatime. But rarely IF EVER is this consumed on an empty stomach, let alone first thing in the morning!!!!! This is simply unwise and is a practice done only in the U.S..
A Personal Story: once in Italy my husband I were driving to the Italian Alps and stopped at a casual little panetteria for bread, etc and on our way out we asked for a “coffee to go” and the girl behind the counter started giggling and laughing and said, “Only in America can you have coffee to go!” And she was right. I never found a coffee to go place our entire six years living in Europe (unless you count Starbucks in London or Amsterdam). At first it was annoying to me to not have my to go drink, and then I got comfortable just making my own drinks to go, but towards the end of the time, I really got used to always sitting down and taking my time to have an espresso with cream or tea otherwise then not have it all. Now back in the US I miss being able to sit down and have a nice espresso and relax – in a nice real cup with saucer – not a paper cup!!
One More Story — Place: Haute Savoie region in French Alps. Eating at a cozy fondue place with leather chairs and real fireplaces. At the table next to us was a large group of Frenchmen (and women) laughing and telling a story that I could understand just enough to get this: “Americans, vitamins……Ha Ha Ha Ha….. American…vitamins….hahahaha….Americans… hahahah……vitamins……Ha Ha Ha Ha.” and on and on.
Maybe if we ate half as well as the French and followed similar food rules (such as no coffee on an empty stomach) we would not need to take so many vitamins. I really enjoyed reading Why French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Lebillion. She did a great job articulating not just French food rules, but the average European food rules that I also observed.
Only in America can you get food to go with your coffee to go . . .
My observation in Europe, was the coffee amounts are small, not super sized, and yes, after meals.
Actually……you can get a coffee to go now….in an espresso size paper cup!*
*Hoosier in France for over 25 years
I am not a bing coffee drinker at all but every once in a while I do drink some I like the flavor. Would it be better to use a couple of drops of coffee extract in a ice cream or to flavor something else just for the flavor or is coffee extract just as bad as drinking coffee?
This is so interesting! I’ve had a myriad of hormonal issues (amenorrhea for over 250 days now, foggy brain, poor circulation, moody) and my bloodwork is absolutely acceptable. Food cravings for sugar have been ridiculous (typically ketogenic WOE).
However, my affinity for coffee hasn’t changed. I wonder if this (did I mention I crave chocolate and exercise about 2 hours 5-6x weekly?) has anything to do with my medical mystery lately.. Looks like 5-HTP is back on the menu. Thanks for posting this.. so much.
Decaf coffee is it is oxidized coffee . I don’t suggest nobody drinking decaf coffee. Second Why people are afraid of coffee when it comes from coffee beans Coffee beans on another natural source they come from nature .
Not everything that comes from nature is good for you. There are plenty of toxic plants that are so poisonous they could kill you.
I love coffee. I just switched to organic fair trade and it’s the best coffee I’ve ever tasted. I used to be a “drink the coffee for breakfast person” and rarely ate breakfast because the coffee filled me up, especially with the nasty creamers I used to pour in it. Once I learned about real food, I went off coffee for the most part and focused on eating a good breakfast instead. Now that I have changed my routine, I started to drink coffee again, but only after my hearty breakfast. And some days I don’t drink any. I understand that not everyone can drink it, and not everyone is even drinking a decent bean, and not everyone fits into a one size fits all recommendation. Coffee seems to be a conflicting item in the “healthy” world. I’ve seen a lot of pros. I’ve seen a lot of cons. But I’m still going to enjoy my coffee. 🙂