Made one change to coffee, now no more stress

Pat

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Feb 8, 2019
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3
Hi,

As the title says, I've stumbled upon something interesting with coffee. Normally on raypeat forums, people don't recommend drinking coffee in the morning on an empty stomach, so I took the recommendations of having it with my breakfast meal. However I was feeling stressed even with a meal. So I pushed an hour after my meal and still, either a stress reaction or a crash. I kept doing this till I got to 4 hours after breakfast for my first coffee. At that point, the sweet spot of not feeling like an anxious mess or a sleepy zombie was met.

Then it dawned on me that even an hour after a meal, a coffee can still hit your stomach, brain, and blood faster than what it takes to digest food even an hour after. For those of us with slower digestion or glycogen replenishment this can even go up to 4 hours like me. I had a balanced macro meal at 7am each morning for a week now, first coffee at 11am, and I feel like gold on just that 150mg tiny dose of coffee for the rest of the day. This might be why a lot of people here think that coffees not working for them when in fact they just have to give themselves a little extra time to replenish. Feel free to share if this has worked for you as well. Thanks.
 

Elast1c

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Jun 23, 2017
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164
Hi,

As the title says, I've stumbled upon something interesting with coffee. Normally on raypeat forums, people don't recommend drinking coffee in the morning on an empty stomach, so I took the recommendations of having it with my breakfast meal. However I was feeling stressed even with a meal. So I pushed an hour after my meal and still, either a stress reaction or a crash. I kept doing this till I got to 4 hours after breakfast for my first coffee. At that point, the sweet spot of not feeling like an anxious mess or a sleepy zombie was met.

Then it dawned on me that even an hour after a meal, a coffee can still hit your stomach, brain, and blood faster than what it takes to digest food even an hour after. For those of us with slower digestion or glycogen replenishment this can even go up to 4 hours like me. I had a balanced macro meal at 7am each morning for a week now, first coffee at 11am, and I feel like gold on just that 150mg tiny dose of coffee for the rest of the day. This might be why a lot of people here think that coffees not working for them when in fact they just have to give themselves a little extra time to replenish. Feel free to share if this has worked for you as well. Thanks.
How dare you banish the coffee stress demon!
 

Jasjeet

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May 26, 2019
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interesting, will have a try tomorrow...although promising myself a coffee first thing in the morning is the only thing that gets me out of bed these days!
 

Korven

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May 4, 2019
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I also like having my only coffee about 2.5-3 hours after my first meal, black with no sugar or cream. This produces a sensation of well-being/zest for life and my extremities become warmer.

When my body/metabolism isn't ready for a cup of coffee, it tastes bitter and too strong. This happens when I drink coffee fasted in the morning, it just tastes "wrong". When I've eaten the right foods beforehand and I get the timing just right, dark roast black coffee tastes almost sweet, like my body craves it.

Still don't know whether it's a net positive/negative for my health though. I'm very stubborn about not quitting coffee, even though I feel like it might help my adrenals recover. It's the only "fun food" in my diet and I enjoy the ritual of making coffee.
 

SamuraiJack

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Sep 8, 2019
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I agree and have noticed this also. Felt stressed even after eating plenty of food/sugar. Then came to realise it takes a bit of time for the body to actually process this and store liver glycogen. All good to go after a few hours (depending on how fast your individual digestive systems work).
 

Collden

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Oct 6, 2012
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Can confirm, having my morning coffee together with a big meal results in lethargy and indigestion, like pushing the gas and brake at the same time. One solution is to have coffee with a very light and easily digestible breakfast, but I find this is also not ideal for digestion and results in having to eat too much at night.

Having a substantial breakfast and then only drinking coffee several hours later once glycogen storage is complete and blood gucose/insulin has normalised, is the best of both worlds - good digestion and stable energy and focus.
 

GTW

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Feb 20, 2021
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Dose, host, timing and combinations make a poison or a cure. Paracelsus
I am extremely sensitive to caffeine. Never drank any coffee until age 60. After that sometimes not for months. A year ago, as an experiment to test the conventional wisdom not to caffeinate too early in the day, I drank a cup at 7 in the morning. I never eat before noon.
Surprise, no midday crash, slept well, woke 6 AM the next morning feeling great.
(Could not find the image: Mother and child sitting in chairs, "What's normal Mommy? It's just a setting on the dryer, Honey."
FB_IMG_15801415648436277.jpg
 

Daft

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May 1, 2016
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What do you eat for breakfast? You could consider adding 1-2 tbsp sugar in it, makes a difference for me even when concurrently eating food, because the sugar hits you faster, since its more readily digested. Even the taste of sweet immediately triggers blood sugar to be released, as per Ray. Honey contains monosaccharides so can partly hit you even faster than sucrose (a disaccharide).

Any polysaccharides I find to hit at least a bit later, as they need to be digested more, even if the glycemic index is higher, and then fats serve the purpose for the next 1-3 hrs after the carbs wear off.

Protein makes a big difference for energy and triggering metabolism to wake up too, a small amount goes a long way, but earlier in the day its harder to digest and also is demanding of carb calories concurrently taken in and so its a balance to find what feels right.

To corroborate though, coffee after lunch reliably feels more positive in its effects for various reasons, mainly likely because metabolisms more ramped up, blood sugars up, overall energy is in surplus, and protein status is (usually) net positive
 

GreekDemiGod

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so I took the recommendations of having it with my breakfast meal. However I was feeling stressed even with a meal. So I pushed an hour after my meal and still, either a stress reaction or a crash
Have you tried combining Taurine with it?

To corroborate though, coffee after lunch reliably feels more positive in its effects for various reasons, mainly likely because metabolisms more ramped up, blood sugars up, overall energy is in surplus, and protein status is (usually) net positive
Yes, but some of us hypos need to be productive in the morning and we need that cup of coffee to wake-up our brain. What do you suggest in this case?
 

Daft

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Have you tried combining Taurine with it?


Yes, but some of us hypos need to be productive in the morning and we need that cup of coffee to wake-up our brain. What do you suggest in this case?

Well I need it too, most people need it in the morning once habituated to it. But yeah, I'd recommend modest amounts of sugar in it and seeing if there's a difference. I personally find milk at that time less reliably digesting, causing fog and unwoken up brain.

So I'm currently doing a light continental breakfast of some mild white breakfast cheese or feta, slices of meat like pepperoni or ham, french bread with butter, juice(not oj for me, that fogs, the acidity indigests for me..), skinned cucumber(a Mediterranean thing), olives.

This covers all the macros and its solidness and density tend to reliably digest better than pure liquid meals at that time!
 

Daft

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Ah perhaps im speaking to the choir. Mediterranean/turkish breakfasts are quite peaty! People should look into it more
 

Parrot

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I didn't realise there was a time you were supposed to drink coffee?? I don't know if it is because I am a late starter (started drinking coffee [mocha] at 57 years of age) but on Monday/Wednesday/Fridays I rise have around 500ml of water, 250ml of freshly squeezed orange juice, 1 teaspoon of coconut oil and 2 teaspoons of organic honey and then ride (bicycle) between 20 and 35 kilometres with some friends. I then have a double shot mocha, followed by a single shot mocha and don't eat a banana smoothie for another few hours and then usually have a night time meal with protein and carrot salad. I feel fine and generally sleep okay??
 

koreus

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Jul 30, 2020
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Good tip. I find I can get away with less time after eating if I load my coffee with sugar. Sugar hits pretty quick (within 15 mins). But I actually prefer the taste of less sugar so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

GTW

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Theanine first identified in tea leaves is what some people take to reduce caffeine OD effect. Taurine might sometimes have the opposite effect.
 

-Luke-

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Nice tip. Thanks!

I've always had a stress reaction from coffee in recent years, so I've almost stopped drinking it altogether. Whether on an empty stomach, with lots of sugar or with a big breakfast. Always the same reaction.

Today I tried this. Had breakfast at 8:30 am and drank a coffee at 11:30 am (so less then the mentioned 4 hours) and didn't have any negative reaction. Might be a coincidence, because I had no stress today in general. Will try it again tomorrow when I have to work.
 

Ismail

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Apr 18, 2020
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Nice tip. Thanks!

I've always had a stress reaction from coffee in recent years, so I've almost stopped drinking it altogether. Whether on an empty stomach, with lots of sugar or with a big breakfast. Always the same reaction.

Today I tried this. Had breakfast at 8:30 am and drank a coffee at 11:30 am (so less then the mentioned 4 hours) and didn't have any negative reaction. Might be a coincidence, because I had no stress today in general. Will try it again tomorrow when I have to work.
Did you try it again? If so, how did you get on? Thanks
 

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