Why Sleep Matters to Your Overall Health
Regular coffee drinkers may become immune to the stimulatory effects of caffeine according to a study at Bristol University. The UK based research suggests that rather than experiencing a buzz or heightened sense of alertness, regular coffee or tea drinkers are just keeping withdrawal symptoms at bay when they have another cup.
What Does the Study Show?
The study involved 379 volunteers, half of whom were medium to heavy coffee drinkers, consuming between one and six cups per day, while the other half were non coffee drinkers, or only drank it occasionally.
The participants were asked not to drink coffee for 16 hours. After this they were given either a 100mg dose of caffeine or a placebo containing no caffeine. Their reactions to this were recorded:
- The medium to heavy coffee drinkers that received a placebo reported feelings of drowsiness and headaches afterwards.
- The medium to heavy coffee drinkers that received caffeine did not report these symptoms but their level of alertness was no higher than the non coffee drinkers that received a placebo.
- The non coffee drinkers that received caffeine did experience an increase in alertness.
The conclusions of the study were that caffeine only works to increase alertness in people that don’t drink it regularly. In heavy coffee or tea drinkers, caffeine only brings the user back up to a normal level of alertness, and reduces the withdrawal symptoms of drowsiness and headache that would kick in if no caffeine was consumed.
Professor Rogers of Bristol University stated that, “Although frequent consumers feel alerted by caffeine, especially by their morning tea, coffee or other caffeine-containing drink, evidence suggests that this is actually merely the reversal of the fatiguing effects of acute caffeine withdrawal.”
Side Effects of Caffeine
Consuming too much caffeine can lead to a variety of side effects such as dehydration through excessive urination, a racing heart rate, headaches, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, depression, shaking, and insomnia. Caffeine has also been linked with a variety of health issues such as cardiovascular disease, birth defects, reproductive disorders, fibrocystic breast disease, and behavioral problems in children.
Abrupt caffeine withdrawal can lead to a number of symptoms including irritability, headaches, nausea and vomiting, and drowsiness, so people who want to cut down their caffeine intake should do so gradually.
Natural Ways to Increase Energy
Rather than relying on a double espresso to give you an energy boost, try these simple tips:
- Eat a healthy and hearty breakfast within an hour of waking up to give you the energy to get through the day.
- Get some exercise when you feel tired, whether that is a brisk walk around the office, a swim on your lunch break, or a series of jumping jacks in the bathroom.
- Stay hydrated and prevent drowsiness by drinking around eight glasses of water a day.
- Eat five small meals during the day rather than three large ones to make sure your blood sugar and energy levels remain constant.
- Try a natural energy program An effective program to boost energy should include a sublingual Vitamin B supplement, so the Vitamin B does not have to pass through the digestive tract. It should actively regulate blood sugar to consistently keep energy at an optimal level. And it should support your ability to deal with stress and remain on an even keel, because nothing saps energy more than excessive stress.
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Comments from Dr. Esposito
I really appreciate Caroline’s article because it truly exposes a major chemical abuse in the world today. As a natural healthcare practitioner, I can appreciate a healthy cup of organic coffee. The great aroma and a little boost of short lived energy is sometimes needed to get through a day especially after being up all night with a sick child or working late to meet a deadline. However, using coffee as a means to negate the need for quality sleep on a daily basis is a recipe for disaster.
If you need caffeine to open your eyes in the morning you need to get a grip on your addiction. I share in concerns of the side effects of caffeine consumption as Caroline noted above, but I am also very concerned of caffeine’s potential to damage the adrenal glands. If you damage your adrenal glands, your energy will further deteriorate and cause your addiction to increase.
The Energy Plus Program was designed to break this cycle and to enable you to increase your energy WHILE you decrease your caffeine intake. If you were just going to stop caffeine after twenty years of drinking three cups a day, you wouldl be in for a rollercoaster ride that crashes into the walls!
If you implement the Energy Plus Program while slowly reducing your intake of caffeine, you will have a more pleasant ride. It may not be free of any headaches or mood swings but it will not be equivalent to hitting a hammer on your head while the life is sucked out of your body.
The Energy Plus Program was designed with three key components. The first is Active-B which is a sublingual source of B-Vitamins. You will simply put the small tablet under the tongue and it will absorb in seconds into your bloodstream without having to be digested. The first step in increasing energy is increasing B-Vitamins necessary for your body to create energy without any side effects.
The next product is Sugar Balance which is used to balance blood sugar to prevent the highs and lows in energy levels and sugar cravings. Two hours after a sugar binge, people crash and then search for some caffeine. Sugar Balance will help regulate blood sugar, leveling energy levels, mood and cravings.
The third product in the Energy Plus Program is Stress Relief, the main product in our line of adrenal repair formulations. If you have consumed caffeine on a daily basis, your adrenal glands are needing a tune up and Stress Relief helps initiate the adrenal repair.
If your alarm goes off tomorrow morning and your automatic coffee maker already has three cups of Joe waiting in the kitchen, you may want to consider taking this advice to heart!
