As part of your natural
prescription for wellness at Pinewood Health Institute you may be put on a
particular diet plan or cleansing regimen that asks you to eliminate caffeine
from your diet for a number of days. For some individuals this is an almost inconceivable
concept as they depend on that first cup of java in the morning to wake them up
and make them more productive.
However, caffeine is not just
found in coffee. It is also found in energy drinks, dark chocolate, many pain
medications and soft drinks. It is also found in tea, and in especially high
amounts in green tea.
Symptoms of Caffeine Withdrawal
Withdrawing from caffeine can
summon up the typical symptoms of withdrawal, which include fatigue,
irritability, headache, anxiety, brain fog and anxiety. That’s the bad news. The good news is that these side effects do
not last long, usually between two to nine days for most people.
The other good news is that
there are many people who do NOT suffer from any symptoms when they withdraw
from caffeine. In fact some people experience benefits such as less
indigestion, acidic stomach and feeling less jittery. For some people, not drinking a lot of coffee
helps them sleep better at night and makes them less distractible when they are
focusing on a task.
Why Can’t I Have Caffeine?
Although caffeine makes us feel
good, it only offers a temporary fix. In the long run it exhausts the body by over
stimulating the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline. This triggers us to
experience the “fight or flight” response that is a biological reaction to
stress. When you experience stress, your
body goes into overdrive producing cortisol, which is one of the main causes of
excess belly fat.
Cortisol is not a complete
villain or our bodies would not naturally produce it. It is only harmful when
we produce too much of it. When the body produces smaller amounts it improves
our awareness, performance and memory. In crisis situations, it is produced to
create extra energy and lower our sensitivity to pain.
Caffeine artificially and
unnecessarily causes our cortisol levels to rise which in turn triggers lowered
cortisol levels, decreased thyroid function, cognitive difficulties, decreased
bone density and muscle tissue, sky-rocketing blood pressure, inflammatory
reactions and a lower resistance to disease.
Also if you have the proverbial
“muffin top “you can probably blame that on cortisol overload as well.
Strategies for Avoid Caffeine
Aside from avoiding colas,
coffee, teas and drugs that have caffeine you will likely have to avoid foods
that are coffee-flavoured such as yogurt and ice cream. It is important to read
labels.
Dark chocolate has the most
caffeine. Even a small serving of dark chocolate can have up to 30 milligrams
of caffeine in it, nearly the same amount as a can of cola (as compared with
90-150 milligrams in a cup of coffee and 30-70 milligrams in a cup of
caffeinated tea).
The withdrawal symptoms from
caffeine can be very real and for most people you have no real choice but to
put up with them until your craving goes away. If you can do this you will be
amazed at the sense of freedom you will feel from not having to rely on a
beverage to kick-start your metabolism every morning and also how much money
you will save from not buying a big designer coffee every day.
For more
information or to book a consultation about our restorative diet and weight
loss programs or any health issue you may have ,visit the Pinewood Natural
Health Clinic website that has a list of full services and products at www.pinewood.ca or call our Toronto Office at (416)-656-
8100. We also have an office in Pickering, Ontario at
(905)-427-0057. You can also email us at info@pinewoodhealth.ca and we would be happy to answer any
question that you have about our holistic health services.
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