Coffee Break

As I sit here and drink my coffee, I wonder why give it up?  Why endure the torture of not drinking it for four weeks on the Community Cleanse that begins next Monday, October 18^th?  After all, doesn’t coffee have some great benefits?

The answer is yes and no.  According to the research, coffee can decrease the chances of Parkinson’s disease, Type 2 diabetes, gall stones, and has other benefits.  The research shows this is most likely due to the antioxidants in the coffee bean.  However, the research also shows that coffee can increase the risk of heart disease, Osteoporosis and increase blood pressure.

I don’t know about you, but I feel caffeine has the ability to change my mood.  Most of the time, I’m nicer and more exciting because of coffee.  But there are other times, I’m much too speedy because of it – right hand gripped around the steering wheel, left hand gripped around my cup of Joe, as I shout, “Get out the way,” to the car in front of me.  The main reason I want to give it up for four weeks is because I feel it changes my body’s chemistry.  The word clean is in cleanse and I want to be as clean as possible. 

There are further reasons to let the coffee habit die for a while.  Regular intake of caffeine can lead to a deficiency of calcium and B vitamins in the body.  Anyone who drinks coffee regularly should also pay attention to calcium intake (supplements with calcium, magnesium and vitamin D are a good idea).  B vitamins protect us against stress and although coffee is a solid short-term mood changer, in today’s environment our bodies need these B-vitamins.  Coffee can also promote under active adrenals, our stress glands, which may make us feel more hyper-active.  Nervousness and headaches are common.  Coffee is also dehydrating.  Dehydration can stress the liver and slow its ability to detoxify the body which in turn increases the chances of toxicity and weight gain.    

According to the research, one cup a day is not going to hurt us.  But cleansing is not only a way to rebalance our bodies it also works to recalibrate our minds.  Eliminating coffee on a cleanse is important because we want to be able to feel awake and happy during our cleanse without it.  We want to get to know ourselves sans caffeine.  Again, I tell myself, “The Community Cleanse is not forever”.  I expect to reintroduce coffee into my daily routine on November 15^th.  But my feeling is it’s never a bad idea to give a habit a break.

Source: http://www.scienceline.org/2008/06/ask-stern-coffee/