Is your morning coffee the real reason behind your cortisol or stress hormone increase?
Caffeine and cortisol don`t get along!!
If you think that drinking coffee after waking up in the morning would give you energy without any issue you might be surprised by this!!
It has been brought out by some experts that drinking coffee in the morning could also spike the cortisol or stress hormone levels in us.
High levels of cortisol would be secreted by our body automatically after we wake up in the morning and this would increase our alertness and energy etc. Truth is that this increase in cortisol hormone usually takes place between 6qam to 10am in the morning and by drinking coffee at this period caffeine would reinforce the effect making cortisol levels higher. We could feel weird, irritable and would have a racing heart etc. It was mentioned by a senior consultant from Noida based Sharda Hospitals that chronic high cortisol over time can result in issues like fatigue, hormonal disruption and sleep issues etc.
When to drink coffee after waking up?
Now, this leads to an important question - When to drink coffee after waking up in the morning?
It is worthy to note that we mustn`t drink coffee right after waking up in the morning. After waking, we must wait for 80 to 90 minutes and then drink coffee. This was as per the consultant from Sharda Hospitals.
There are few signs that would reveal that the coffee is spiking our cortisol levels. The signs are feeling jittery after drinking coffee, racing heart plus other signs like slump in the energy midday despite drinking coffee and difficulties in sleeping during night etc.
Stress response:
Drinking coffee would trigger adrenal glands to secrete more cortisol and adrenaline and this would be similar to how hormones would be released when the body faces stress. It must be noted that if a person is already under pressure due to work, lack of sleep etc then this extra boost would push stress levels even more.
Simple tests to know if cortisol in the body gets spiked by coffee intake
Step one, we must not drink coffee as soon as we get up and instead wait for 60 to 90 minutes. Step two, by eating a minor snack or breakfast that would buffer the effect of caffeine on the stress system. It is necessary to consume matcha or green tea instead of coffee if the body is very sensitive. By watching the energy curve for about a week and monitor how mood and alertness shifts. Finally, by monitoring cortisol with saliva or blood tests etc.
Important note:
It is worth noting that by coordinating or synchronising coffee routing with the natural cortisol cycle we would be able to drink coffee without any jitter or energy slump etc.
