HEALTH Prep #5: Coffee & Energy Drinks

You asked for it. I added this one because coffee and energy drinks are not helping you, they are hindering you. But don't worry, I won't tell you to stop, instead I will make you a deal. If you can cut your cups or cans in half, it will show the initiative and ability to work without it. You will be stronger, have more energy, and your body will function more to its fuller potential. As for waking up, I will teach you how to get up without stimulants.

I know, this is a very hot topic for the 180 million Americans who drink it, but its even a hotter topic for me because it takes control of you and hinders your functionality. AKA It is a crutch. It is not your friend at all and I will show you how this is true.

ADDICTION - This is the easily proven topic because people see evidence of this every day. From caffeine withdrawals, to the jitters, to going out of your way just for a $4 - $5 cup. If I asked you today to stop all coffee immediately, could you do it? If I told you that you will die in the next year if you didn't stop drinking, could you stop for that year. If so, show me. If not, at least you can admit it.

In health and wellness, you must be intentional to be able to be successful. If something hinders you by controlling you, you will never be as successful as your potential. Yes, look at all the greats, Steve Jobs, Schwarzenegger, Tony Robins, anyone that is super successful will tell you they had to do certain things to reach their goals and things that controlled them were put to the side. Again, I'm not asking you to stop, unless you are a total addict, then I will ask, please do stop.

THE MORNING: Most people wake up, stumble down the stairs to the kitchen, and grab their coffee, right? The coffee machine is set to a certain time to brew and that is the first thing people grab. Well did you know that drinking coffee right after waking up is not the cause of you being awake. Sleep Inertia is the time between waking up and being fully awake, which takes about 1 hour. Since it takes about 1 hour for ingested caffeine to reach peak levels in the blood, by that time sleep inertia has already passed and your coffee is not truly needed. So the feeling of being awake, you thought came from your coffee, is actually natural to your body. There is also a jolt that is created from the habit/routine but not the caffeine.

Alternatives: To cut that sleep inertia in half or less, you need to get your blood pumping and your brain firing, moving along the natural awake chemicals your body produces and flushing the rest of the adenosine, or "sleep promoting drug", your brain produced out of your system.

For me, I have the same routine each morning to wake up. I have trained my body to reduce that Sleep Inertia to half or maybe even a third. While it takes most people a half hour to wake up, I usually get past that phase in 20-30 minutes, but by that time I am already out the door running with my dog, doing my workout, or writing a blog post. You must find what wakes you up. I always wake up and go to bathroom with my ear phones in so I don't wake the kids. I listen to energy pumping music to exhilarate my senses. 5 minutes after I wake up, I’m out the door to run with my dog and I switch over to inspiring podcasts. Within 20 minutes of waking up I’m back home and start my morning blog, writing about how to help and inspire all of you. Then its exercises by the end of that first hour that I am awake. Some can call that excessive but look at people like Tony Robins, who jumps into a freezing cold shower or swimming pool full of ice. These are stimuli your body needs to naturally wake up. No ingesting different chemicals.

Another problem found with drinking coffee and energy drinks first thing in the morning is that it stimulates your hydrochloric acid production, which is used to digest your food. If the body doesn’t see food there it learns not to produce as much, but then when you eat regular meals, it will then produce less making it harder to digest your food. So these drinks send mixed signals to your body if ingested on an empty stomach.

The body regulates the chemicals your body produces and which ones are not needed. If the body doesn't think it needs them, it will decrease production and/or stop them all together. This is also one of the bigger problems that using drugs causes.

BRAIN SCIENCE: Harvard University did a study on the great benefits caffeine/coffee has on your body. In that study they reference how caffeine gives you a jolt because it alters the brain to stop producing adenosine, the “sleep promoting chemical”, which is one of the sleep-regulatory chemicals that accumulates in the brain during wakefulness and prepares you to sleep. So they saw this as a great thing but the ongoing effects of caffeine consumption throughout the day stops the production of this chemical so that you can’t sleep when you really need it the most. We aren’t just talking about falling asleep, we are talking about restful, long term memory converting sleep. By halting the build-up of this chemical over the entire day, the less likely you are to have a fully, restful sleep, your true natural potential.

SENSORY DEADENING: Long-term caffeine use has been shown to increase the number of adenosine receptors in the brain and increase their sensitivity. This means that more caffeine is required to elicit the same response. It also means that the brain becomes progressively more sensitive to the regular levels of adenosine. For somebody who suddenly stops drinking caffeine, this can result in caffeine withdrawal and higher levels of sleepiness than prior to the caffeine use. Have you noticed that you are increasing your caffeine and coffee consumption compared to when you first began. A single cup doesn’t have the same effect that it had in the past.

YOUTH: Coffee and caffeinated energy drinks are even worse on youth. It is much different introducing these foreign chemicals to a developing body compare to one that has reached its peak. The young body has to adjust for the youth much more than an adult because of its development. When a youth ingests coffee there are monumental changes that the body will experience, which are not natural, because it is adapting to the environment we are introducing it to early on. A child who drinks coffee and energy drinks needs more to stimulate them when they are older. It also become more of an addiction. So we are harming our children by introducing these substances to them early in their development.

EVENINGS AND SLEEP: Caffeine acts as a competitive antagonist of adenosine. It helps people to stay awake but at what cost. Since the half life, of caffeine is 7-10 hours, it’s effects are still being felt 7 hours later. If you plan to get sleep, you really should think about ending your caffeine 7-10 hours before you go to sleep.

Alternatives - 10-3-2-1: If you want the best sleep you have ever received, you must try this process to fall asleep. It has been proven by science to help you fall asleep faster and have truly restful sleep. (Its effects take nearly 21 days to be reached because you need to retrain you body and routine.)

10 hours before sleep stop all caffeine; this will help with the build-up of adenosine and promote a restful sleep. Again its much more than just falling asleep but allowing your REM cycles to function properly and moving short term memories into long term.

3 hours before going to sleep you stop all food and alcohol consumption. This allows the digestive process to be complete on almost any food in your system, especially sugars and carbs. It cuts down on continual absorption of your food into fatty tissues and promotes a winding down for your body.

2 hours before sleep you stop all work. This is the hardest for me but I know that it helps you wind down after ultra-stimulating your brain with worries. When you work, you will most likely be stimulated by exciting news or news that will only make you worry. You can’t have restful sleep when you are still worrying or analyzing when you are trying to go to sleep. This is why most women and analytical personalities have a hard time falling asleep. They are always analyzing information from the day.

1 hour before bed stop all screens. There is a blue light that is produced by most screens that stimulate the brain and makes it excited and captivated. Most phones now have a system to decrease the blue light from the screens but this does not remove all the effects. Put your phone on charge and lay it off to the side. This is a great time to write in your journal, read a book, or end the day with your significant other and helps you wind down as you slowly move towards your bed.

FINANCIAL: I know it tastes good but if you are truly worried about yourself financially, please don’t spend $4 - $5 on a coffee every day, save that money for the future. Brew at home or at the office and save yourself the extra $1000 - $1500 you could have each year.

TIME MANAGEMENT: Also considering you are hoping or praying for more time in your day. Does it make any sense to spend 10-30 minutes in a Starbucks line. Brew at home or the office. Free up your time for more important things.

It's just safer for you and your body.