The smell of coffee filling your home is often the motivation you need to get out of bed in the morning. It's your daily ritual whether you sip on it slowly on your porch in the morning or as you grab your usual coffee order from the drive-thru, rushing on your way to work. The day goes more smoothly and productive once you get your coffee in, right?
But could your daily ritual of drinking coffee actually be making you sick? Today, we are chatting all about it and we'll get to the bottom of if you should steer clear of coffee for optimal health.
Health Benefits of Coffee
You may hear a lot that you need to STAY AWAY from coffee...that it's bad for your hormones and anxiety. While that may be true in some cases (or with loads and loads of coffee), there could still be benefits from a cup (or two) a day.
Benefits of Drinking Coffee
Reduced risk for heart failure: drinking one cup of coffee daily
Less likely to develop Parkinson's disease: coffee contains caffeine and a fatty acid called Eicosanoyl-5-hydroxytryptamide (EHT), which have been studied and showed reduced neurodegeneration and inflammation.
Healthier liver: Coffee drinkers have healthier levels of liver enzymes.
Reduced risk for colon cancer: Research suggests that coffee drinkers, who consume decaf or regular, were 26 percent less likely to develop colorectal cancer.
Concerns with Coffee
While there are benefits of having your cup of joe in the morning, there are also rising health concerns you should know about.
Mold in Your Coffee
When you're sipping on your coffee, I bet the last thing you are worried about is drinking mold! But, coffee is one of the major culprits for mold exposure. In one study examining mold and coffee, almost all the coffee samples were contaminated with mold - 91.7% to be exact, with Aspergillus being the most prominent mold!
Mold exposure is concerning because mold symptoms can lead to:
fever and chills
cough
shortness of breath
brain fog
chest or joint pain
headache
fatigue
If you are drinking regular coffee, especially from big coffee shop chains, you could be ingesting mold every single day. If your body is up against this daily stressor, it's just a matter of time until the mold will win and symptoms will start occurring.
Pesticide Use and Coffee
Coffee is no exception to the mind-boggling amounts of pesticides farmers use on crops. Only 6.6 percent of the world's harvested coffee is organic. That leaves the other 93.4% as conventionally grown coffee that uses pesticides. So, if you don't specifically order or purchase organic coffee, the probability that you are consuming some sort of pesticide residue is very likely!
You may think that roasting and brewing the coffee will eliminate any extra pesticides still hanging on, but it doesn't quite work like that. These pesticides are still apparent even in the finished product (aka your cup of coffee in hand).
Pesticide exposure can contribute to:
Hormone imbalances
Gut damage
Toxicity
Cancers
Metabolism disorders and weight gain
Masking root causes of your fatigue
While you may grab for your morning coffee to give you a jolt of energy, you may even be grabbing for an afternoon pick-me-up coffee! This is where coffee may seem like a benefit, but in reality, it could actually be hurting you.
If you NEED coffee in order to get through the day, this is NOT a sign of optimal health. Some people need 3+ cups to just function! But this type of fatigue shouldn't be masked with coffee.
Constantly being exhausted and experiencing chronic fatigue is a sign of underlying imbalances and dysfunction going on in your body. If you cover up your symptoms with coffee, rather than addressing them at their root, it's just a matter of time that more issues will arise.
Fatigue is your body giving you red flags that something isn't quite right. If you ignore the red flags, your body will continue to manifest more serious issues.
Root Causes of Fatigue
Hypothyroidism
Lyme Disease
Adrenal Dysfunction Asthma
Infections
Parasites
Food sensitivities
Working with a functional health expert, like me, is the best way to figure out what is causing your fatigue in the first place. This way you can address it appropriately and experience energy like you haven’t felt in years.
Easy Upgrades to your Morning Routine
With this being said, you don't have to go cold turkey on your cozy cup of joe. However, you might not want to hit the Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts drive-thrus anymore. Instead, plan ahead and make your coffee at home so you know exactly what is in your coffee.
Switch to organic. This simple swap will reduce your daily pesticide exposure, which is what we want to strive for. The less toxic burden on your body, the better!
Look for brands that test for mold and mycotoxins. This way you know that the brand cares about producing high-quality coffee, and you'll know for sure if you are consuming mold-free coffee!
Add in some herbs for long-lasting energy and focus. Wildcrafter coffee produces high-quality coffee that also has high-quality herbs. If you are looking to really focus in on a work project, why not drink coffee with added herbs for an extra brain boost? Plus, this coffee is pretty delicious!
Choose an afternoon energy-boost alternative. Instead of an afternoon coffee, consider a lower caffeine alternative made with adaptogens and cacao. MUD WTR is the perfect coffee swap for this! It's an organic coffee alternative that gives you more natural energy without the jitters or crash afterwards.
After reading this article, do you think your coffee could be making you sick? If so, are you ready to make this one simple switch that could make your health better?
Living a healthy lifestyle doesn't have to be complicated. It's all about making healthy swaps and upgrades to your current routine. Starting your day with healthy ingredients instead of toxins sounds much better, doesn't it?
Work with a Functional Health Expert
If you want to create healthy habits to live a long, happy and healthy life, please reach out to me. I'm Jessica Meyers, a Functional Health and Herbal Expert. I help clients live their healthiest life through personalized nutrition, targeted supplements, functional testing, and lifestyle recommendations. Apply to work with me here, and I'll create customized protocols unique to your body and walk with you through your health journey.
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