NAIJA WOMEN HEALTH

3 secret reasons women shouldn’t drink coffee

Caffeine causes cyst formation in the Breasts and Ovaries
Did you know that?  I certainly didn’t!  I LOVED coffee, espresso bars, the ritual, lattes – I’m not gonna lie, the stuff is delicious!  After this scare, I began looking into caffeine and its effects on hormones. Turns out for women with PCOS, Fibroids, Endometriosis, Ovarian Cysts, and Fibrocystic breasts- caffeine is a guaranteed way to make more cysts. For everyone else with hormonal sensitivity, it might not cause cysts, but it will disrupt your system.
Sometimes it seems like coffee is our national drug of choice. We’re too often overworked, under-rested, plus poorly fed, and so coffee has become the crutch many of us use just to get through another busy day. A lot of people feel like coffee must be good for them in one way or another, and with all of the extraordinary marketing by big brands and continuously reported contradictory research, of course you would. The truth however is that we’re addicted and we don’t know the biochemical effects of this substance on our hormones.
Coffee is absolutely terrible when it comes to the female hormonal ecosystem and beyond this cyst formation situation there are 3 other reasons it’s not good for us ladies.
If you’re struggling with your period, fibroids, cysts of any kind in the breast or ovary, endometriosis, infertility, low sex drive, moodiness, low energy, and weight issues – coffee is making all of these problems much worse.
Reason #1 –  You metabolize substances more slowly than men
The coffee-alcohol connection
Just like with alcohol, that other damaging yet socially-sanctified drink, women cannot tolerate caffeine (or any stimulant in fact) in the same way that men can.
We are brilliantly designed to conserve as much energy from whatever we’re taking in so we can grown other tiny humans in our uterus. Whether you are actively doing this or not, your body simply retains fluids for much longer and we metabolize the chemicals contained much more slowly.
Whereas liquids process through the male body at a rapid rate – men drink and urinate out both alcohol and caffeine fast and avoid much of the physical impact as a result.
Yet women are more likely than men to go without breakfast and drink coffee on an empty stomach, even using it as a meal replacement. This makes the negative physical impact even more profound and long-lasting.
Reason #2 –  Caffeine disrupts your entire hormonal cascade for 24 hours
Your body on coffee/caffeine
This is the cyclical journey your body goes through when you drink coffee in the morning, on an empty stomach or not:

1. If you add cream and sugar or grab any of the fancy coffees at Starbucks or Coffee Bean, your blood sugar will rise. Studies show the majority of women don’t actually enjoy the taste of coffee and will certainly add as much sugar and cream as possible to make it more palatable.
2. The caffeine alone causes you to release extra cortisol which makes sure that any sugar goes straight into your bloodstream.
3. That insulin surge makes you crave carbohydrates and sugar when your blood sugar level crashes, causing you to want to overeat or choose unhealthy foods.
4. You are working at a hypoglycemic level, craving more carbohydrates and sugar to keep you going.
5. Your whole endocrine function is focused entirely on dealing with the fall out of your morning coffee and everything else that desperately needs attention – your ovaries! -gets ignored.
6. You cannot reset your body until you go to sleep and wake up the next day, and yet your sleep is disturbed for hours regardless of how long it’s been since the first coffee.
7. You wake up groggy and your first instinct is to boost your energy with more coffee.

Reason #3 – Caffeine depletes the body of micronutrients essential for hormone balance
We all know not to drink coffee when we’re pregnant or breastfeeding, but the fact of the matter is – we shouldn’t be drinking it at all. At every stage it is bad news for your hormones.
Coffee drinking at any time of the day increases insomnia. Even one cup will disrupt your sleep for hours during the night and leave you tired in the morning. Lack of good sleep suppresses your healthy hormone production. Whether it’s trouble getting to sleep or trouble staying asleep, coffee is one of the main causes.
Coffee depletes magnesium and other nutrients and minerals that are vital for happy hormones, such as B vitamins. Here’s more from me on why magnesium is so very important for your ovaries.
The acidity of coffee causes an imbalance in your gut flora and makes it harder for you to absorb the goodness of even the healthiest of diet