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Another question about coffee


AmyS

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This is kind of a spinoff of the earlier thread about coffee.

I did one Whole30 from Sept. 23-Oct. 23. I just started my second one today (hooray!).

It worked well for me (obviously), and I'm looking forward to more.

I'm curious about why something like coffee is allowed, though, while something like fruit juice is not. Coffee makes me a total wreck, while fruit juice leaves me feeling fine. I'm really surprised that caffeine is allowed at all. I wonder if it's because this eating plan comes out of a workout mindset and I hear a lot of people who work out like caffeine because of the adrenaline rush - or something...

I'm just wondering why caffeine (coffee especially) is fine, even though it turns me into a freaking mess, but I can't have the tangerine juice my girls' grandma just squeezed from some of the four million tangerines on their tree right now.

(Note: I really have no actual problem avoiding either caffiene/coffee or juice of any description, so this question is more out of curiosity than craving, if that makes sense. B) )

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Coffee is okay during a Whole30 to the extent it does not make you a wreck or interfere with your sleep. If coffee is a problem for you, you should avoid it. Juice is out during a Whole30 because it delivers a large dose of sugar without any fiber to blunt its impact on your blood chemistry.

I continued to drink coffee for a few months after I did my first Whole30. I did not think I had a problem with caffeine. As I became more aware of my body, I decided to avoid caffeine and switched to herbal tea for a hot drink. Many people report that they become more sensitive to caffeine after they have done a Whole30 and so it is more common for people who have adopted the Whole30 approach as a lifestyle to avoid coffee.

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Coffee is okay during a Whole30 to the extent it does not make you a wreck or interfere with your sleep. If coffee is a problem for you, you should avoid it. Juice is out during a Whole30 because it is such a large dose of sugar without any fiber to blunt its impact on your blood chemistry.

I continued to drink coffee for a few months after I did my first Whole30. I did not think I had a problem with caffeine. As I became more aware of my body, I decided to avoid caffeine and switched to herbal tea for a hot drink. Many people report that they become more sensitive to caffeine after they have done a Whole30 and so it is more common for people who have adopted the Whole30 approach as a lifestyle to avoid coffee.

Got it! So my personal Whole30 which was caffeine/coffee-free was just right for me. Thanks for the juice-specific info as well.

I'm finishing up Day One of my second Whole30 and veddy veddy happy. Woot!

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Thanks for this advice. During my first Whole 30 I drank coffee with canned co input milk for maybe the first 21 days. Then i was feeling so good when i woke up in the morning that I switched to tea and didn't miss the coffee at all. Post -W30 I started drinking black coffee because I really liked the taste. I only drink it in the morning. But I have stopped sleeping through the night again. I just started a second Whole 25 today and, after reading this post, I am going to stop drinking coffee and see if it helps me sleep through the night.

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I completed my Whole30 on September 17th and have been slowly phasing out coffee since then. I used to love it with Splenda and soymilk (blegh!), and then grew to love it black. In the months after my Whole30, my solid 8 hours of peaceful, paleo sleep started becoming restless and anxious and I couldn't figure out why. Begrudgingly I've finally made the correlation between bad sleep and my morning cuppa habit. I admit that I am probably not a critter who runs well on caffeine, even if I limit myself to two cups before 9am. It makes me a little sad, but if I can give up soymilk, tofurkey and artificial sweetners for the sake of better health, I'm sure it will only be a little while before I muster up the strength to kick the (coffee) can.

My next Whole30 will definitely be without those tasty little beans. (However, you will never tear me away from my herbal teas.) :D

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I appreciate that caffeine affects different people differently, but the effect on me is so extreme that it's a complete no for a Whole30. It hadn't occurred to me that this was more of an individual situation. The problem, for me, is compounded because I love coffee drinks laden with sugar and dairy and all sorts of artificial flavorings. I'm beginning to realize that coffee drinks as a category are going to be pretty much out for me. As far as caffeine specifically, I do have a control group as it were in brewed black tea. I can stand to drink it without sugar, but the caffeine just absolutely wrecks me.

The serious (but really excellent and happy) part of this for me is that after my first Whole30 my blood pressure dropped 40 points. I am pretty sure that the caffeine/sugar/dairy elimination was the single driving force in that drop.

Perhaps this is a thing where I wish I could drink the generally-allowed coffee, and since I clearly can't, I don't want anyone else to either! Hahaha (Adjusting the paper bag down a little more firmly over my head now...)

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Perhaps this is a thing where I wish I could drink the generally-allowed coffee, and since I clearly can't, I don't want anyone else to either! Hahaha (Adjusting the paper bag down a little more firmly over my head now...)

This makes me happy. I think we all suffer from that in some way or another, but very few of us will actually verbalize it ;0)

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This makes me happy. I think we all suffer from that in some way or another, but very few of us will actually verbalize it ;0)

Haha - maybe it comes from being an operatically trained soprano. Opera is all about taking your most private thoughts and shouting them out with high notes!

Amy I gave up coffee a couple of weeks ago after reading and thinking about Melissa's coffee manifesto. I am sleeping so much better. I think I am more patient too. :)

Yeah I am an actual human being off of caffeine (and, well, the accompanying sugar and dairy and whatnot that Starbucks throws into the stuff I really like). It's kinda strange.

I am on day 4 of no caffeine, and also day 4 of a whole14. This day 4 has me feeling much more "kill all the things" than I felt when I did my whole30! Caffeine is some powerful sh*t!

Dude. You said it. (Note: I have a bunch of ants at my house. Come on over with a slipper and let loose!)

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I have never tolerated coffee well, always cycling through stints of none for months, then back to one a day and before I know it it's two really strong ones a day and side effects of the jitters, palpitations, irritability and sleep problems. And terrible withdrawal symptoms of headaches, sinus, flu, neck aches....But I do like the taste.... For awhile I switched to cocoa but that's even more addictive for me. Anyway managing the whole30 mainly on two cups of black tea a day, lots of herbal teas and an occasional black coffee. On the day I have coffee I get the shakes about two hours later, feel hungry all day and out of sorts the next day. So sad :(

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I have never tolerated coffee well, always cycling through stints of none for months, then back to one a day and before I know it it's two really strong ones a day and side effects of the jitters, palpitations, irritability and sleep problems. And terrible withdrawal symptoms of headaches, sinus, flu, neck aches....But I do like the taste.... For awhile I switched to cocoa but that's even more addictive for me. Anyway managing the whole30 mainly on two cups of black tea a day, lots of herbal teas and an occasional black coffee. On the day I have coffee I get the shakes about two hours later, feel hungry all day and out of sorts the next day. So sad :(

That's me to a T except I get the same jitters etc. on ANY caffeine. Plus, I can't stand even the thought of black coffee, so when I drink coffee (obviously, for me, this is a NO during a Whole30) I tell the good folks at Starbucks to load 'er up with all sorts of wondrously nasty things. Heh. Anyway, caffeine and I are just not going to be able to make peace. I'm several days into my second Whole30 and just now sleeping again.

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I have never tolerated coffee well, always cycling through stints of none for months, then back to one a day and before I know it it's two really strong ones a day and side effects of the jitters, palpitations, irritability and sleep problems. And terrible withdrawal symptoms of headaches, sinus, flu, neck aches....But I do like the taste.... For awhile I switched to cocoa but that's even more addictive for me. Anyway managing the whole30 mainly on two cups of black tea a day, lots of herbal teas and an occasional black coffee. On the day I have coffee I get the shakes about two hours later, feel hungry all day and out of sorts the next day. So sad :(

The Bulletproof Exec (creator of Bulletproof coffee) says it's not the coffee, but the other things about the bean (roasting process, mold, etc) that cause things like the jitters. It's quite fascinating, actually. I am satisfied with the occasional cup from my Keurig, so I haven't bought his Upgraded Coffee. I have heard from others that it IS exceptional, and does what it claims.

Not trying to pimp the stuff, just love to pass on info. Hee. http://www.bulletproofexec.com/coffee/

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Dude. You live in Hawaii. Be careful what you ask for! :P

Heehee! I'm happy to receive guests who won't balk at eating lots of spinach.

The Bulletproof Exec (creator of Bulletproof coffee) says it's not the coffee, but the other things about the bean (roasting process, mold, etc) that cause things like the jitters. It's quite fascinating, actually. I am satisfied with the occasional cup from my Keurig, so I haven't bought his Upgraded Coffee. I have heard from others that it IS exceptional, and does what it claims.

Not trying to pimp the stuff, just love to pass on info. Hee. http://www.bulletproofexec.com/coffee/

Interesting. I have the same reaction to tea though. Bummer. Anyway, my blood pressure drop is really the proof that I'm doing the right thing for my ole' bod. Phew!

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Interesting. I have the same reaction to tea though. Bummer. Anyway, my blood pressure drop is really the proof that I'm doing the right thing for my ole' bod. Phew!

I'm with you there. My BP definitely goes up when I drink caffeine. *sigh*

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