Inspiration: Coffee Alternatives
/One question I hear a lot lately is… “Is coffee good or bad for you?”
As with all things nutrition-related it truly depends on each unique person. Coffee can be beneficial for some and harmful to others. There are a lot of factors that come into play such as the quality of coffee and the amount consumed. Good quality coffee is extremely high in antioxidants which are great for our health. The downside of coffee is the caffeine it contains.
Caffeine is a well-known stimulant and the reason most of us LOVE coffee. It wakes us up and gets us going in the morning! An average cup (think 250ml, not your Grande beverage) contains 90-100 mg of caffeine. The problem with caffeine is that the majority of us are leading over-stimulated, stressful lives as is. Consuming too much caffeine can lead to anxiety, heart palpitations, jitteriness, and it can disrupt sleep. This adds a lot of stress to our adrenal glands. The adrenal glands sit on top of our kidneys and are responsible for regulating stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin. It’s a vicious cycle; our adrenals are tapped out so we wake up tired. We reach for a cup (or 3) of coffee to stimulate us into feeling awake. This adds more stress to our adrenals so the next day we wake up even more tired. And on and on it goes until we crash.
For women, coffee is also a major contributor to acne. Coffee is extremely taxing on our adrenal glands and causes us to produce excess cortisol, leading to increased hormone imbalances. If you suffer from breakouts around your chin and jaw I suggest eliminating coffee from your diet.
If you’re currently experiencing any of these symptoms, I suggest removing coffee from your diet:
- Constant fatigue, especially in the morning
- Weight gain
- Acne, most prominent on the chin and jawline
- Frequent illness
- Increased mood swings, anger, and depression
- Tired but wired, you’re exhausted but you can’t get to sleep
If not coffee, then what?!
I agree that there’s nothing better than starting your morning with a warm beverage. Try swapping your morning coffee for one of these healing elixirs:
- Herbal Tea: Peppermint, nettles, and rosehip are some of my favourite herbal teas. Have fun playing around and making your own concoctions. As with coffee, it’s important to make sure your tea is high quality. Numi offers organic, fair trade tea.
- Almond Milk Latte: Steam up your favourite almond milk into a warm beverage. NutMeg Mylk has tons of amazing flavours that make delicious lattes. Our favourite is The Provence, a blend of almonds, lavender, and honey. Lavender naturally soothes the stomach and skin, calms nerves and helps with stress.
- Turmeric Latte: Turmeric is known for its anti-inflammatory benefits. Plus it has a great zing to get you going in the morning! My favourite is the Golden Mylk blend from Harmonic Arts.
- Beetroot Latte: Likely to be the most beautiful latte you ever make at home, It’s Blume has created a beetroot latte mix that’s delicious! Full of antioxidants and vitamin C, beetroots are known to fight inflammation and detox your body, while at the same time give you strength.
- Kick Start Superfood Latte: Another gem from Harmonic Arts, this latte mix includes Chaga mushroom, yerba mate, raw cacao, sarsaparilla, maca, roasted dandelion, and guarana. Lots of immune boosting, healthy superfoods to fuel your body for the day.
*Important Note: None of these companies are sponsored. I simply LOVE their products and want to share them with you!
