Health Benefits And Disadvantages To Caffeine Consumption

Coffee is delicious, warm (or cold if you prefer), invigorating, and magical to many people. It is the first thing they think about in the morning, and maybe the main thing they look forward to in the afternoon or early evening. It keeps you focused, energized, motivated, and fast.

However, there can be some problems with drinking too much coffee. In fact, not only coffee, but certain teas, most energy drinks, and many of the world’s favorite sodas. If you drink any of those, or other drinks with caffeine, you know how much you crave it through the day (or night). It seems to be almost an addiction, right? It probably is, and this article will explain more about that later.

Before we list the pros and cons of caffeine, it should be noted that soda is a poor choice to try and get health benefits. That is because most of them come from beneficial ingredients in coffee and tea.

Here is a list of potential health benefits to ingesting coffee and teas:

1. It helps improve your brain function. Caffeine increases levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, which improves the firing of neurons in the brain. Based on many studies, caffeine can improve memory, energy, alertness, mental function, reaction times, and mood.

2. It contains antioxidants and vitamin B2. Antioxidants can help fight off diseases, cancer, and more. Vitamin B12 is also called Riboflavin. This vitamin helps the body break down carbohydrates, fats, and protein to produce the body’s energy. It helps the body get oxygen as well.

3. Promotes burning of fat in the body. Some people have a metabolism boost between 3 to 11 percent compared to when they don’t drink caffeine. This helps the body break down fats

4. Lowers risk and severity of depression. Some scientific studies showed that coffee drinkers are much less depressed than those who didn’t drink coffee.

These are just some of the many benefits that coffee could provide to your overall health. Although that may seem like a good case for caffeine, there are some problems that you should know about. The more caffeine you drink, the more likely the issues below will happen.

Health disadvantages to drinking caffeine:

1. You can get addicted. Talk about feeling sick if you don’t have it. Caffeine withdrawl can really mess up your week. Symptoms that usually happen when you stop drinking caffeine suddenly are migraines or headaches, anxiety, depression, poor concentration, fatigue, or tremors. Those effects can last up to 9 days from when you had your last cup of coffee, tea, or last soda.

2. Caffeine can increase blood pressure, blood flow, and body temperature.

3. Caffeine can increase blood sugar levels by releasing sugars from the liver after consumption. If blood sugars get too high, blood sugars will eventually crash and cause hypoglycemia. This can be life threatening.

4. Caffeine can increase secretion of stomach acid, act as a diuretic and increase urine production, and cause sleep deprivation.

5. Caffeine can give you diarrhea, nausea, drowsiness, irritability, anxiety, muscle problems, appetite changes, blurry vision, and more.

6. Caffeine and certain beverages like coffee and tea can block absorption of certain nutrients. If you don’t get enough of the nutrients in your body, it could cause problems and make you sick. For example, anemia and iron supplements don’t mix with coffee or tea.

Now that you know the secrets of caffeine, we hope you can make better decisions for yourself and your body. Enjoy your drinks, and consider decaf if you would like to keep the flavor and some other benefits of coffee or tea. It is up to you to weigh the options and what’s right for you.

Keeping Up With Nutrition In Modern Times

You may be wondering why this article specifies modern day as a time for this topic. Glad you asked, and here is the answer. Modern times have so much processed food, experimental ingredients, mystery ingredients, pesticides, chemical cleaners, air fresheners, and more.

In addition, we are more stressed than ever, and exercise may be harder to come by now that many gyms are still closed. Perhaps your usual location for getting your body moving is closed, such as a dance studio.

With all of these things combined, we are exposed to more toxins and adding stress makes it more problematic. Sometimes our bodies just get pushed past their abilities. Nutrition is not only the foods and drinks that you consume, but many other factors contribute.

With that being said, here are some tips on how to make sure your body is getting the right nutrients to fight the good fight.

1. The most obvious tip is to just eat better foods. Fruits, vegetables, raw or unprocessed foods, and plenty of water to drink. Consider adding green, black or other teas (unsweetened) to your diet. Avoid instant coffee and try to use fresh ground. The resources for how to eat healthy are out there in abundance, so just do a quick search online.

2. Make sure your gut health is in tip top shape. Even if you are eating all the right foods, your gut determines which nutrients get into the blood and which get discarded. Making sure your gut is working well is crucial to absorbing nutrients. Ask your doctor if your digestive system may need some checkups.

3. If you use chemicals for cleaning, consider using chemical free options. You don’t want to risk ingesting or breathing chemicals when you don’t have to.

4. Reduce stress in any way you can. Try going along with a meditation or yoga video online. If that doesn’t work, look for as many stress relief exercises as you can. Dance to your favorite music in the living room. Exercise is key to physical, mental, and emotional health. Try working out from home, or at a local park in a private area away from people.

5. Always do something you really enjoy as often as you can. These feel good moments can really make a difference in how healthy you feel, and can reduce your stress.

These are hard times in the year 2020. Best of luck to everyone out there just trying to be healthy!

How To Take Care Of Your Back And Prevent Pain

There are many different causes of back pain, and it could be in any part of your back.

Sometimes it is caused by poor body position during exercise or lifting. You could get pain by sitting in a slouched position for too long at your desk or on the couch.

Regardless of the cause, this article should help you care for your back and reduce or prevent pain. Before trying the tips below, speak to your doctor to be sure your back pain isn’t a serious medical issue.

Tips For Caring For Back Pain:

  • Within the first 48 hours of experiencing pain, ice the painful section of your back for 10-20 minutes. Place a moist towel between yourself and the ice.
  • After the first 48 hours, you may use heat to soothe the pain
  • Do some mild stretches in sitting and standing positions
  • Lay on the floor and try to straighten out your back. Do some light, gentle movements such as bringing your bent legs up toward your chest.

Tips For Avoiding Back Pain:

  • Learn how to properly lift by using your legs to lift as often as you are able.
  • Avoid bending over with your back straight up in the air. You should lift things with a straight posture whenever possible.
  • Bring the weight you are carrying as close to your torso as possible.
  • Consider using your hips to place some weight and keep the stress off your back.
  • Do not make sudden intense movements that involve your back. Go slow and steady. If you must move your back quickly, make sure you take a lot of time to warm up and stretch the muscles.
  • Keep your abdominal muscles in good shape to help support your back. The weaker your core muscles, the more work your back must do.
  • Posture is key to most issues. Shoulders back, head straight, back straight.

Although these are some really effective tips for back health, there is much more to learn. Ask your chiropractor or your doctor what you can do about your back pain.