Health problems caused by stress and anxiety are becoming extremely common in the UK. According to www.anxietyuk.org.uk a survey covering Great Britain showed that 1 in 6 adults had experienced some form of ‘neurotic health problem’ in the previous week. With the most common neurotic disorders being anxiety and depressive disorders. Foods and drinks containing caffeine are definitely contributing to our stress levels. Read on to find out how.

Sure, caffeine is definitely not entirely to blame for all of our stress levels, but it is definitely not innocent either for those of you that do consume any form of food or drinks containing caffeine.

A little stress and a little worry here and there is normal and infact good for us from time to time – as it can help to motivate us in the right direction. But it can be detrimental to our health when we start to feel stressed on a daily basis. Anxiety UK also go on to state that more than 1 in 10 people are likely to have a ‘disabling anxiety disorder’ at some stage in their life. That is a worrying number don’t you think? And having lived with anxiety, stress and depression for many years before learning to manage it myself – I know and understand how it can take over your life. So getting it under control and learning the triggers and avoiding them just makes logical sense.

A Modern Day Acceptable Drug

Anyone living with stress, or anxiety knows that the last thing they need is more stress. Sounds simple right? But far too many people with these health issues are taking in caffeine from various sources without realising they are doing more harm than good to themselves. At first caffeine can be seen as a simple ‘pick me up’. But that is not really the case, as it does not stop there.

Firstly, caffeine is a stimulant which is known to increase a persons heart rate and alertness. People who suffer from stress and anxiety are already very alert, and do not need their heart rate increasing any more than it could in those that get for example an anxiety attack. Even if you do not think you suffer from any forms of chronic stress, depression or anxiety – you still should reduce your intake of caffeine, better still avoid it as it will still not leave your body happy on the inside.

Secondly, caffeine is classed as a psychoactive drug, which is a chemical substance that crosses the blood brain barrier and can then alter brain function. Caffeine is a very addictive psychoactive drug, therefore making it a very good option at the time to help people cope with any issues life throws at them. As the effects soon wear off for most people, this then can give the impression that it is quite a harmless action by consuming caffeine. But people are quickly left wanting to recreate this same feeling the first cup of say coffee with caffeine in gave them. Eventually, the more caffeine you give your body, the more it begins to be able to handle, and the more it starts to become reliant on it, so you are left craving it and addicted.

Being under constant stress, is not healthy for the body. Neither is managing your life’s stresses with caffeine – a modern day socially acceptable drug. This is my major problem I have with caffeine containing foods and drinks – people are using them too readily as a coping mechanism. This is not a healthy coping mechanism for your body or mind. Much like it is not healthy for people to use hard drugs, alcohol and/or smoking as a way of coping with stress.

What Happens to The Body When We Take In Caffeine?

It all starts with neurons and the pituitary gland. When you have a cup of coffee, tea or chocolate, the caffeine causes uncontrolled neuron firing to begin in your brain. Neurons (or nerve cells) conduct electrical impulses along the way when doing their job, which is to take chemical messages around the nervous system instructing various parts of the body to act accordingly. For example when you burn your hand – it is a neuron message that tells you to take it off the heat source that is causing the pain.

Once the neurons have received all of the impulses to charge them up that the caffeine stimulated and fired up – this triggers the pituitary gland to secrete a hormone that then tells the adrenal glands to produce the stress hormone everyone has heard of – adrenaline.

Adrenaline for Emergencies Only

Our bodies only need to produce adrenaline to help make us ‘fight or flight’ in situations that are life threatening. To be walking around constantly producing adrenaline for no reason again makes no sense for you if you want to achieve great health. This is also why caffeine is not advised to be taken by people suffering with an anxiety disorder – because they are already experiencing ‘fight or flight’ every time they have a full blown episode, and can even be felt on a small level daily without having an anxiety attack.

Back to my main point, you simply will not be able to achieve great health if you consume caffeine on a regular basis because you will be wearing your adrenal glands down time and time again and instead of your body being able to focus on doing other things with that energy or nutrients it uses to make stress hormones – until the stress is turned off it can not stop making adrenaline and cannot focus on much else that the body needs instead.

This is exactly how women who cannot conceive can be partially causing their own problem – as the body thinks that due to the stress it must focus on dealing with that only instead of creating a baby which is of less importance, again until the stress is switched off.

So when you stress and the longer you stress out for, the more stress hormones you have to make. Which means you feel more stressed for longer, more and more tired, and in time will leave you very low or infact deficient in stress hormone building nutrients that you may end up not be able to handle a real life stressful situation when it arises. Hence how a nervous breakdown can occur.

Adrenaline (epinephrine as it is also known), therefore should only be produced in large regular amounts in real emergency life or death situations where you genuinely need stress hormones to help you cope. Not everyday when you are sitting at your office desk working.

Caffeine Intake – Selling Your Soul to The Devil for Short Term Happiness?

There are many more health conditions caused and affected by caffeine intake and over consumption other than just causing yourself burnt out adrenals.

The following list is a direct cause of caffeine intake and over consumption:

  • Severe blood sugar swings
  • Acid imbalance
  • Essential mineral depletion

According to Dr.Kaslow, the following health conditions are where even a doctor will advise you to remove all caffeine related products from your diet, as it will only make them worse:

  • Acid indigestion
  • Anxiety, irritability and nervousness
  • Candida or yeast problems
  • Colitis, diverticulitis, diarrhea and other irritable bowel symptoms
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and other auto-immune disorders
  • Diabetes or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
  • Dizziness, Meniere’s syndrome or tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
  • Heart disease or heart palpitations
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol
  • Insomnia and interrupted or poor quality sleep
  • Liver disease and gallbladder problems such as gallstones
  • Kidney or bladder problems including kidney stones
  • Migraines or other vascular headaches
  • Osteoporosis
  • Skin irritations, rashes and dryness
  • Ulcers, heartburn, and stomach problems such as hiatal hernias
  • Urinary tract irritation
  • Female Health Issues: Women in particular need to be concerned about their caffeine intake during pregnancy because caffeine crosses the placental barrier to the fetus and studies show higher incidence of miscarriage, infertility and low birth weight in those women who drink too much caffeine. PMS symptoms and fibrocystic breast disease are both aggravated by caffeine. Hot flashes and other symptoms caused by hormonal fluctuations during menopause also are aggravated by caffeine. Coffee causes the body to excrete calcium and other minerals. Women at risk for osteoporosis need to eliminate their intake of caffeine and coffee.
  • Male Health Issues: Coffee is an irritant to the urinary tract and bladder. It is also a diuretic that aggravates conditions associated with frequent urination. Eliminating coffee and caffeine often relieves symptoms associated with frequent urination due to enlarged prostate glands.

Plus the effects of long term adrenaline circulating in the bloodstream can increase heart rate, constrict blood vessels, dilate eye pupils, inhibit motility and digestion in the stomach and intestines, increase sweating, increase metabolism, and increase breathing according to http://www.enotes.com/adrenal-glands-reference/adrenal-glands

According to the http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00001 they also say that the long-term activation of the stress-response system — and the subsequent overexposure to  stress hormones — can disrupt almost all your body’s processes. This puts you at increased risk of numerous health problems, including:

  • Heart disease
  • Sleep problems
  • Digestive problems
  • Depression
  • Obesity
  • Memory impairment
  • Worsening of skin conditions, such as eczema

All of the above really nails down why I feel it is vitally important that we all learn healthy ways of coping with stressors in our life, and addressing caffeine intake as a possible trigger for any health conditions you may have is a must. What’s more, even if you do not seem to struggle with long term stress problems currently, or suffer from anxiety attacks or depression and other mind related health issues – you really ought to keep it that way and prevent developing them. So everyone really should minimise their caffeine intake – better still avoid it all together.

What Caffeine Is & Where It Is Found

Caffeine is an alkaloid crystalline compound which is found in food and drinks like chocolate, Coca Cola, coffee, tea, kola nuts, yerba mate, guarana berries, guayusa, yaupon holly and some medicines.

How Much is Too Much?

The Mayo Clinic suggest that around 200 – 300mg of caffeine a day, which equates to around 2 – 4 cups of coffee alone a day, should pose no health risks for most people. But I know that everyone has a different tolerance level, so some people may find that even 1 cup gives them the jitters.

The best way to tell is, if you are a current caffeine taker, do you have any of the following health issues?

  • Insomnia
  • Nervousness
  • Restlessness
  • Irritability
  • Stomach upset
  • Fast heartbeat
  • Muscle tremors

If the answer is yes to any of the above, I would look at reducing you caffeine intake immediately, and eventually avoiding it on a long term basis.

For those of you that feel ‘OK’ at the minute with your current caffeine intake, OK is not good enough. You want to be feeling great, even if none of the above health issues apply to you currently, so consider reducing your intake and also quitting before a serious problem arises.

Benefits & Side Effects of Quitting Caffeine & How To

Without you even realising it – if you consume caffeine on a daily basis, you are probably addicted to it. Especially if you find you use it for a pick  me up most days. The reality is this drug is affecting you at all times no matter the amount you consume, or where it comes from. But what we do not know exactly for each individual is what are these negative side effects?

Well the lists above give you some idea of what can happen when you consume too much caffeine on a regular basis which range from acute to chronic health problems. But even the acute problems like stoping mineral absorption can cause long term chronic health problems like osteoporosis.

If you are a regular coffee drinker lets say, you have already gotten used to the effects of the caffeine, and your body is becoming dependent on it. This is why the only way for you to see the effects of what it actually does to you is to come off it, slowly though as your body is dependant on it right now.

So to just pull it all away and go ‘cold turkey’ will leave you having all kinds of mood swings until you get the fix of caffeine your body craves. Much like smokers needing their nicotine, and heroin addicts needing their heroin. It is not normal or healthy to have a substance as a vice for coping with emotions. All you need in life ideally, to get by emotionally speaking, should come from within. And a healthy balanced calm mind is a good start to achieving over all great health.

If you are suffering currently with a chronic mind disorder like anxiety attacks, depression, or you are taking medication – please consult with your naturopath or doctor when attempting to quit. So that they can monitor you and ensure you are going in the right direction.

For most people, it should be OK to monitor yourself when quitting caffeine. But for both groups of people, take it slowly, day by day. Start with stopping one of your daily cups of coffee at first, or chocolate bars. Do this for at least a week. And then continue to reduce the caffeine source in this way. Taking it slow, and slowly increasing your water consumption to help your body flush out the stagnant caffeine in your body, and to cope with the detox of caffeine from your body.

The same is to be applied when quitting other forms of caffeine too, like chocolate bars etc.

Conclusion

If you embark on quitting caffeine, remember it will take some time, but the benefits are huge. You will feel more stable, more together, and your energy levels will increase once you have come out of the detox period – now who does not want to feel this great?

It concerns me that caffeine can cause heart attacks in those that are otherwise healthy – so why take this risk? Plus walking around feeling burnt out or feeling like you are going to burn out at any point is an early warning sign that you won’t be doing yourself, or the people around you any favours if you continue to drink caffeine. Even if there are many more reasons as to why you may be about to burn out – start taking control of your life and your health today and work through the triggers one by one, and talk to people about how you are feeling – this can help an awful lot.

Just how much better you will feel when you quit caffeine alone, will not be known until you have tried it. And any improvement in health is a huge step forward you should be proud of.

Remember, if you have been affected by today’s article and need some assistance for a mental health problem, two great organisations that help people cope with any mental health issues they may have, no matter how big or small are:

Leave me a comment also, and let me know how you get on if you are one of those that feel they need to ditch their caffeine habit, and are going to try or have quit the caffeine addiction.