What I learned about coffee

Many of you know that I am a coffee lover…some say coffee snob. I drink coffee black. Over the years of perfecting my palate, I pride myself on being able to tell the difference of different brands of coffee around Seattle just by trying their drip. This is a fun fact about me but could also mean I drink too much coffee.

I always defended my answer that I love the taste of coffee and “don’t drink it for the caffeine.” Seriously folks, I LOVE it!

I was in denial until recently that I maybe had a problem. Since I graduated medical school, my long nights of studying, full days being in class for 6+ years, and high stress in clinic and then to top it off intense studying for many many board exams, I developed adrenal fatigue. I became a totally different person, I am that person who wakes up at 5am and runs 6 miles before work, but recently I was so tired I could not get up and had to force myself up hitting my alarm for 2 hours and the thought of any exercise made me nauseous. To top it off I literally could not function in the morning without 2 cups of coffee, now relying on the caffeine to function. Then throughout the day had maybe 2-3 more cups, bringing the total to 4-6 cups of coffee a day. I kind of felt drinking the coffee was actually making me more tired but felt I could not function without it.

I decided to do a 10 day detox to “restart my body” for the Fall. During the detox, I switched to drinking green tea in the morning and ritualistically made a tea that tasted like coffee.

The alternative

The “coffee-like tea” was 1 part roasted dandelion root, 1 part roasted chicory root in 2 cups hot water. I added frothed coconut or rice milk and it satisfied my cravings! It literally tastes just like coffee, just without the caffeine. I started to notice on day 8, I naturally woke up at 5:30am and sort of felt like myself again and on Day 10 woke up again at 5:30 and actually felt like running.

What did I learn from this?

Sometimes our body needs a little break from our daily habits to function properly. It is known that caffeine can suppress our adrenal glands and if consumed in excess can have the opposite effect of keeping you up and make you more tired.

The ritual of making coffee in the morning is very important to me and now I am going to try and replace that with the ritual of making “coffee-like tea” in the morning and saving my cup of coffee for the afternoon…an afternoon delight!

I still stand by the saying, “everything in moderation is okay”, and for me means coffee too!

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Dr. Ellie Heintze, ND, LAc, is a naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist in Bothell, WA at her practice Starting Point Acupuncture. She is a pain specialist, seeing people who suffer from chronic pain, migraines, as well as digestive issues. Offering pain relief injections, acupuncture, facial rejuvenation, and nutrition consults. Most insurances accepted. Dr. Ellie Heintze is also the author of the book, A Starting Point Guide to Going Gluten-Free on Amazon.