When I lived in Colombia, I sometimes drank seven or eight cups a day. As you can imagine, I often felt fatigued and had trouble sleeping at night. I finally figured out it was all the caffeinated coffee I was drinking that was causing the problem. Eventually, I also realized that caffeinated drinks were sabotaging my weight loss goals. Once I stopped drinking caffeinated drinks I slept better and felt more energetic. Plus, I lost weight.
If you're serious about losing weight you need to completely eliminate caffeinated drinks from you diet. Here are several of the reasons why:
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1. Caffeine can cause your blood sugar level to drop, known as hypoglycemia. This leaves you feeling tired and hungry. You'll be tempted to overeat to get your sugar level back up.
2. Caffeinated drinks cause cravings. You may be one of those people who start each day with a new commitment to your healthy eating plan. But then by lunchtime, you're starving and craving unhealthy foods. Caffeine raises the amount of cortisol, the stress hormone, in your body causing you to have these cravings.
Rising cortisol levels also causes several other problems. It can make you feel stressed and anxious. Even angry and frustrated. This can eventually lead to depression. High cortisol levels also increases your chances of increased stomach fat. This is most dangerous place on your body to store extra fat.
3. Caffeine can also cause insulin resistance. Insulin affects every cell in the body because it's a metabolism hormone. Insulin resistance can cause a multitude of health problems including: rise in blood pressure, kidney problems, elevated triglycerides, damage of the arteries, protein coverting into sugar, storing food as fat instead of used a fuel for your body, and an increase in the chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
4. Caffeine is also responsible for many other health problems. Besides hindering weight loss, the health problems include fatigue, upset stomach, stress, insomnia, headaches,
5. There is no nutritional value in caffeine so there's nothing to balance out the negative effects. This is why it's important to severely limit or eliminate caffeinated drinks from your diet.
However, it's best not to go cold turkey off of caffeine. This can cause severe headaches. Start cutting down on your caffeine intake each day and wean yourself off it over a week's time.
What should you drink instead? Start your day with warm water and lemon. Then during the day drink green smoothies with spinach, wheat grass and fresh fruit. Another good option is herbal tea.
After eliminating coffee from my diet I slept better and had more energy during the day. I hope you'll try giving up caffeinate drinks from you diet. See what kind of a difference you notice in your ability to sleep at night and feel less anxious during the day.
This post was originally published on March 17, 2014.
