Caffeine suppresses appetite, so some people feel that by drinking coffee on an empty stomach, they are killing two birds with one stone: they are saving time needed for a full breakfast and creating a false feeling of fullness, which allows them to deceive the body and reduce the number of calories consumed. At first glance, everything is logical: after drinking coffee “on the go”, we not only get a boost of energy, but we can also go without feeling any discomfort for several hours without eating higher-calorie foods.
This effect is well known to manufacturers who popularize the green coffee diet. However, we should not forget that the human body is not a battery, it does not care from what source it is “recharged”, and for trying to deceive nature one often has to pay with ailments and diseases.
Is it possible to drink coffee on an empty stomach?
Drinking coffee on an empty stomach is not strictly prohibited. The main thing is not to get carried away and resort to such actions only periodically. It is allowed to use only natural products. It's best if it comes with milk. Due to this, no harm will be done to the body.
If a person drinks an invigorating drink before breakfast systematically, then one should think about the consequences this will lead to. It is strongly not recommended to do this. You need to choose a different way to get a charge of energy.
Coffee and the nervous system
Although coffee helps
increase concentration, attentiveness and improve performance; it, no worse than alcohol and tobacco, can cause addiction.
The habit of constantly waking up
with the help of an invigorating drink containing caffeine, it will make the body “lazy”. The brain will simply refuse to turn on without the usual doping.
This is interesting!
Scientists have even coined a term to describe caffeine addiction: “caffeineism.”
When trying to get rid of a bad habit
a coffee addict will experience a full-fledged withdrawal syndrome with irritability, headaches, insomnia, anxiety and other symptoms.
Effect of coffee on an empty stomach
To understand whether you can drink coffee on an empty stomach, you should first understand what effect the drink consumed on an empty stomach has on the body.
Caffeine causes maximum harm. It irritates the digestive as well as the nervous system. If it is present in a drink in excess, it provokes an increase in irritability, nervousness, and anxiety.
Drinking coffee before meals causes the stomach to secrete hydrochloric acid, which is necessary for processing food. At the same time, he has nothing to digest, since the food has not yet arrived. The result is pain in the abdomen, heartburn, bloating, and nausea. In addition, intestinal motility is stimulated. There is a frequent urge to defecate. Even if you eat later, the food will quickly pass through the gastrointestinal tract and will not be fully absorbed. Accordingly, the body will not receive the nutrients it needs.
The consequences of systematically drinking coffee before breakfast and disruption of digestive processes are even more serious. Initially, gastritis and ulcers develop, and later there is a risk of cancer. Such problems can only be avoided by drinking a coffee drink some time after a meal.
It has also been noted that drinking espresso before meals leads to loss of appetite. When consumed, the feeling of hunger is muffled. Accordingly, a person often refuses a planned meal. After a while, the appetite appears, you have to eat a larger portion. This increases the risk of weight gain.
After waking up, the body experiences hormonal changes. There is an active synthesis of the hormone cortisol, which is responsible for vigor and quick reaction. With its help, you can wake up in the shortest possible time and start doing urgent things.
If you resort to drinking coffee drinks every day on an empty stomach, the body begins to get used to the artificial stimulation, and the production of cortisol will stop. This explains why coffee lovers cannot wake up without a cup of their favorite drink. If you temporarily give it up, the condition will return to normal.
Coffee composition
Most of the modern drinks that we drink in the morning are surrogates that are prepared artificially. Even if you drink natural coffee that was purchased in powder, there is a high risk of running into a fake.
The composition of such a mixture may differ; three categories of substances pose a particular danger:
- citric, oxalic and chlorogenic acids;
- essential oils;
- caffeine.
The first “blow” to the mucous membrane is acids, which aggravate the effect of gastric juice. If during normal nutrition the submucosal base is sufficient for protection, then at high pH values it is no longer sufficient for neutralization. Then an ulcer appears in a certain area with subsequent symptoms.
Harm and benefit
Much has been said about the harmful effects of coffee on an empty stomach. First of all, there is a disruption in the functioning of the digestive system, hormonal levels change.
A number of other negative changes are noted, but only if you start every morning with a cup of aromatic espresso.
If you drink a coffee drink occasionally, it turns out to be very useful. With its help, stress is relieved, you can quickly concentrate, organize your thoughts and cheer up.
For people who have important things planned for the morning and will experience a change in time zones, a cup of an invigorating drink before eating will not harm. It is only advisable to eat or at least drink a few glasses of water in the near future.
Only rare consumption of coffee on an empty stomach will be beneficial. It is allowed to resort to such measures no more than three times a month. If you drink it this way every day, then you need to forget about the beneficial properties. The body will have an extremely negative impact.
Action of caffeine through the blood
The second dangerous substance is caffeine, which enters the blood and affects cortisol levels. This is a hormone that is responsible for attentiveness, composure and vigilance throughout the day. It also helps us defend ourselves because it is responsible for stress.
Daily consumption of caffeine negatively affects hormonal levels in the body:
- immediately after drinking a tonic drink, the level of cortisol in the blood decreases;
- the person becomes cheerful, but this state does not last long, since the concentration of the hormone in the blood increases again;
- gradually you have to increase the dosage of coffee in order to “get involved” in the work;
- if you abuse drinks, hormonal imbalances appear more often and addiction occurs.
To minimize changes in cortisol concentration, you need to drink coffee when its level in the blood is minimal - this is from 10 to 11 am. But do not forget about the acids contained in the drink - that is why it is advisable to eat before drinking coffee.
What kind of coffee can you drink on an empty stomach?
People often drink coffee in the morning on an empty stomach in order to reduce body weight. This product is famous for its fat burning effect. In this case, the drink is prepared from beans that have not been roasted. It is green fruits that have a similar effect. Drink coffee ten minutes before meals. Due to this, the process of burning fat is started, and soon after this food enters the stomach, and no harm is done to the digestive system.
You can drink green coffee for weight loss, but you must eat after drinking it. Otherwise, the active production of hydrochloric acid will lead to irritation of the stomach walls.
To reduce the negative impact of a natural drink, it is recommended to add additional cream or milk to it. It is advisable that the dosage of dairy products be large enough. Lattes are allowed. You can also make coffee with milk.
It is strongly recommended not to consume instant drinks before meals.
Instant coffee contains virtually no beneficial substances. The coffee beans themselves contain no more than fifteen percent. The main components are all kinds of chemical additives and flavorings. Even if you purchase an expensive product, it will contain stabilizers, aroma and taste enhancers, preservatives, and emulsifiers. Due to this, the negative effect on the stomach will significantly increase and adding milk will not change the situation.
What diseases is caffeine beneficial for?
Doctors recommend consuming caffeine from beans to prevent nervous diseases - Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease. As a result of poor supply of blood and oxygen to parts of the brain, neurons die, and a person develops dementia. Caffeine prevents this process by increasing blood pressure.
In Parkinson's disease, the brain gradually loses control over areas of the body and mental state. Scientists have noticed that people who regularly drink coffee are less likely to experience symptoms of this disease. The reason is the same: blood supply to the brain improves due to caffeine, even if there is a hereditary predisposition.
How to drink coffee in the morning without harm
Doctors unanimously say that drinking coffee drinks in the morning is best after a meal. Moreover, you need to wait at least half an hour after finishing the meal. At this point, the process of digesting food will begin. The chlorogenic acid contained in grains will increase acidity and help improve digestion. Coffee on an empty stomach, on the contrary, will lead to problems in the gastrointestinal tract.
If breakfast is scheduled for 8:00, then the best time for a cup of aromatic, invigorating espresso will be from 9:30 to 11:30. At this point, cortisol concentrations will begin to decrease, and a dose of caffeine will help give you an extra boost of energy. In addition, during this time period, drinking coffee drinks is considered the safest for health.
You can also treat yourself to a flavorful drink after lunch. It is recommended to drink espresso between 14:00 and 16:00. It is no longer worth taking it after dinner - it has been noted that there is a risk of insomnia. Even if you manage to fall asleep, the sleep will be weak, restless, and in the morning the person will feel tired.
A cup of espresso, drunk before a meal, can affect the body's condition both positively and negatively. You can drink it on an empty stomach, but only occasionally. Regularly drinking coffee before meals will lead to serious health problems. Therefore, you should not abuse it and take it on an empty stomach unless absolutely necessary. Only in this way will it be possible to avoid the negative effects of caffeine, get the desired boost of energy and enjoy the taste and aroma of your favorite drink.
The best time for coffee pleasure
In fact, you don’t need to drink coffee in the morning on an empty stomach to wake up and perk up. You can achieve the same effect if you wait just a few hours. Moreover, in this case, the drink will not only not harm, but will also benefit the body.
So, when is drinking coffee in the morning really beneficial? From half past nine to half past eleven in the morning, the level of cortisol in the blood decreases. This means it's the right time for coffee. It is at this moment that he can become a real source of vigor and energy.
During this period, the drink will not harm the body and will actually increase performance.
In order for the consequences of drinking a cup of coffee to be only positive, you need to take some pause after eating. An hour or an hour and a half will be enough for the intestines to start working, digesting what was eaten for breakfast and to be sufficiently prepared for drinking coffee.
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There are certain rules for consuming coffee in the evening. It is believed that drinking an aromatic drink at night will lead to insomnia and a bad mood in the morning. In fact, you can allow yourself to relax with a cup of coffee after lunch. Moreover, if you do this at the right time - from 14-00 to 16-00, then the drink will help you cheer up and tone up, motivating you for further work.
Drinking coffee at a later time is undesirable, since indeed, given the digestion time of the drink (up to 4 hours), the body may not have time to return to normal before bedtime, which can cause a sleepless or restless night.
However, here a lot depends on the personal characteristics of the person. People who are used to going to bed late and getting up late can allow themselves to deviate from the rules by shifting the permissible time for afternoon coffee by several hours.
What else does coffee affect in the human body?
It is important to know that this drink can interfere with the normal absorption of certain medications. Thus, it is not recommended to use it if you are taking calcium, vitamin complexes, or products based on other microelements (for example, magnesium).
Coffee increases appetite and dulls the feeling of thirst, which negatively affects the body's water balance. As you know, a person should drink at least 1 liter of clean water per day (not tea, juices, drinks, but water).
Caffeine at certain dosages increases systemic pressure and at the same time has a weak diuretic effect.
Is there an alternative?
Modern coffee shops or shops offer us any coffee - instant, natural and with various additives. To eliminate stomach problems, you need to choose natural drinks. It’s better to buy grains, roast them yourself and grind them at home - then you will be sure that there are a minimum of impurities and harmful substances in the cup.
You should not drink coffee with spices, cognac and other dangerous additives - they irritate the stomach.
It is much healthier to drink a natural drink with a small portion of cream or milk. This emollient will act on the stomach and help prevent heartburn. Share on social networks:
Is it possible to replace coffee with something?
Yes, it is possible and even necessary. There are alternative methods to feel energized in the morning. I like the taste of coffee - chicory is a worthy replacement, it contains insulin, which helps the digestive system.
Green tea and dark chocolate are a powerful boost of energy. The products contain antioxidants that give vitality.
Lemon water is an excellent replacement for morning coffee; it replenishes the supply of water that is lost overnight, strengthens the immune system, and improves the condition of the skin and gastrointestinal tract.
Freshly squeezed citrus juice gives a refreshing and invigorating effect. Contains iron, vitamin C, antioxidants. But it is important that the juice is always fresh.
