Coffee a Day, The Ayurveda Way

Unfortunately, I am not a coffee lover … but as an Ayurveda consultant I had always heard from lots of my patients that in their daily routine, generally coffee is the main part of their lifestyle, so I was really curious about COFFEE.

Coffee is more popular than ever, which contributes to its contradictory status.
Doctors validate coffee’s health benefits yet worry about its contribution to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and even cancer.

In some cases, coffee appears to be protective. But many western countries now consume coffee in a large quantity which can significantly damage our Neuro-endocrine-immune system over the long term.

Does coffee really make you awake?

Caffeine strongly affects the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis:

• The linked system of hypothalamus and pituitary glands in the brain, and the renal glands that sit atop the kidneys.
• The HPA axis influence the body’s ability to manage and deals with stress, both at rest and during activity.
• The adrenal glands secret two key hormones: Epinephrine and cortisol.
• Epinephrine or adrenaline, increases respiration rate, heart rate and blood pressure; while cortisol frees up stored glucose, which we need in greater amounts during times of perceived stress.
• DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is a steroid hormone that can decreases with the consumption of coffee.
• DHEA is responsible for cellular and tissue repair. It is also enhancing memory and cognitive function, protects against stress and also support some physiological processed.
• Coffee consumption (including decaffeinated coffee) releases an addictive neurotransmitter called Dopamine.
• Dopamine is a pleasure hormone and when the brain is bathed in dopamine, it never forgets the source. So, after coffee rush off brain again get started to rush behind the one more cup of coffee.
• And this drives the coffee drinkers towards the coffee shop.

Does coffee increases caffeine? or is there any relation with estrogen in body ?

For instance, the CYP1A2 enzyme system which is responsible for the initial metabolism of estrogen during phase I which is clear by the liver, Liver detoxify caffeine using the CYP1A2 enzyme.
That’s why women who are on oral contraceptive or postmenopausal replacement therapy, caffeine metabolized more slowly.

Researchers suggest that chronic caffeine exposure shifts the immune system to Th2 dominance. This may help the treatment of Th1 dominant autoimmune conditions, but in the average person, it may elevate the Th2 system excessively, creating an overzealous Th2 immune response.

A dominant Th2 system predisposes individuals to hypersensitivity reactions such as asthma &allergies.

If someone with Rheumatoid arthritis which is an autoimmune condition says they get significantly more joint pain when they drink coffee, one could hypothesize that their Th2 system is dominant, and caffeine is promoting destruction of their joint by further stimulating this Th2 system.

Effect on brain and mood …!

The elevated blood sugar and insulin don’t just stop at inflammation. They can create imbalances in the neurotransmitter serotonin, dopamine and GABA, which can lead to sub-clinical mood problems such as mild depression, low motivation, irritability, and impaired cognition.

People with chronically high glucose, insulin resistance, systemic inflammation and stress typically have ‘fuzzy brain’, memory loss, lethargy, short fuse.

Stress, sugar, sedentary lifestyle with lot of chocolates and the cakes this combination and this complex relationship with your neuro-endocrine-immune system may be affecting you more than you think and you realize.

 

Coffee From the eye-glasses of Ayurveda

Ayurveda always suggested about the plants from which we can get the food and also at the same time the medicine.

As a practitioner& plant lover I believe each and every plant has some special characteristic which are useful for food and which are useful for medicines. So, understanding their specialty with the proper preparation and doses is much more important.

Ayurveda is the science which helps us from our universal things and the things which are always around us, aren’t we lucky and thankful for this to our nature.…?

Latin name : coffeaarabica
Family : Rubiaceae
Species : 120 more popular is coffee arabica

 

Each and every food and fruits have its own taste (Ras), own quality (Guna), digestion quality (Vipaka), effect (Physical and Psychological)

Ras (Taste) – Bitter (tikta) – astringent (kashay) – pungent (katu)
Virya (potency) – hot (Ushna)
Vipaka (taste after the digestion) – pungent (katu)
Gun karma (quality effect) – Warm & dry.
Effect on dosha – Kapha decreases Vata and pitta increases

As we see above potency and quality effect our body, coffee is hot in potency and pungent in taste after the digestion so, it naturally increases pitta (heat) in our body, at the same time bitter and astringent taste increases more dryness and increase vata dosha.

Does it really make you feel fresh and energized whole day?

Of course, this caffeine stars to secrete adrenaline but not for 24 hours just for some time interval after that it again starts to do normally and body again starts to crave for this energy, so we drink one more coffee after some time interval to make our self fresh.

 

Does it really make your bowel clear in the morning?

• It’s an intestinal irritant that can inflame the digestive tract.
• Desensitize the gut mucosa which create the more constipation rather than clear the stomach.
• Extremely dehydrating and causes dry skin, gut, respiratory tract.
• Coffee on empty stomach is not good for anyone as it can create excess acid (or heat, in ayurvedic terms) and this in turns can create everything from the burning to irritability, and even the acid reflux!

If it’s good then how much time and how to drink a coffee?

Your stage of life also determines how your body might respond to coffee. So, as we know according to Ayurveda your age, your doshas, your prakriti (biological constitution) & weather is very much important for food that we take.

“What we Eat or Drink, our physiology and psychology grows like this!”

For example, as many of us know that when we are stressed, we get sick more easily.

Emotional and mental demands, especially if prolong causes our stressed hormone to increase which means our immune system don’t work as well.

The older you get, the more difficult it is for your system to tolerate a cup of coffee.
So your coffee cravings are seasonal, I can still safely offer you a good way how to drink it.

 

So, always buy big good quality stuff always buy coffee that is organic, fair trade, and freshly roasted.

 

Follow this rule for your dosha this coffee Rules:

Take even parts milk and coffee. Warm the milk on a stove until it softly boils. Add in freshly ground cinnamon and or cardamom & ginger to the milk while it cooks. This spiced milk will add more ounces to your favorite morning drink and make it even easier to digest.

Ayurveda way to reduce the caffeine absorption

One popular way to slow the delivery of caffeine in bloodstream is to take it with coconut oil, ghee or good quality butter. Ghee has been use for thousands of years to slow the absorption of toxins and herbs, in same way adding fats like ghee in meal has long been an ayurvedic strategy to blunt nutrients surges with sugar, caffeine and herbs like turmeric.

Cardamom, cinnamon and ginger also the best spices which can reduce the caffeine and make you gut stronger for the digestion of coffee.

Vata:- if you are not experiencing the symptoms listed above take your coffee creamy and sweet, because it will have a grounding, nourishing effect on your system
You can Drink 0-1 cup daily

Pitta:- sweeten your coffee with high quality maple syrup or with honey or organic cane sugar, but skip the cream to counteract the beverages acidic qualities. You can drink 01 cup daily with this method.

Kapha :- take your coffee black. Milk or cream can increase congestion and sweeteners can cause weight gain for kapha.

Drink 1 cup daily but not more.

Does time matter for drinking the coffee?

I always suggest my patient in their daily routine don’t drink coffee empty stomach and also immediately after your lunch or dinner.

Because it really does matter with your digestion system and also with your hormones.
Dinking any caffeinated beverages on empty stomach will force the body to drive the adrenalin to make excessive stress emergency hormones.

In a same manner it doesn’t come out easily without a cost.
So the point to said cup of coffee with bunch of breakfast in morning (kapha time a day) will improve your cortisol level with the good digestion jump start day with better energy.

Conclusion with findings:

Follow the evidence that your body offers you. Pay attention how you feel when you drink it.
Do you feel good for a short period, then shaky and irritable? Do you notice more pain or other kind of physical distress?

If you experience any one from this I offer to follow the Ayurveda way of coffee making and also the decaf coffee.

Coffee drug or medicine is at its place. But how long it benefits a lot?

So choice is yours you want to improve the energy without get totally dependent on it is the Ayurveda way.

Anything which craves us or attract us to themselves is called the addiction ..!

I look forward to more studies and of course the replies from my beloved readers about this blog.

I hope you enjoy this coffee in Ayurveda style.

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