Caffeine suppresses appetite, so some people feel that by drinking coffee on an empty stomach, they are killing two birds with one stone: they are saving time needed for a full breakfast and creating a false feeling of fullness, which allows them to deceive the body and reduce the number of calories consumed. At first glance, everything is logical: after drinking coffee “on the go”, we not only get a boost of energy, but we can also go without feeling any discomfort for several hours without eating higher-calorie foods.
This effect is well known to manufacturers who popularize the green coffee diet. However, we should not forget that the human body is not a battery, it does not care from what source it is “recharged”, and for trying to deceive nature one often has to pay with ailments and diseases.
Coffee on an empty stomach: is it possible or not?
The answer to the question whether it is possible or not is unequivocal - it is not prohibited, but only subject to certain rules. If this does not happen often and a high-quality drink is consumed, not a sublimate. It doesn't hurt to add some fresh cream to your cup.
After waking up, the human body releases the hormone cortisol, which is responsible for vigor and increased tone. Coffee entering the stomach every morning becomes addictive; the hormone ceases to be produced on its own. The result is that it is impossible to wake up without a cup of aromatic drink.
Even the highest quality drink contains no more than 25% of coffee itself; everything else is preservatives, flavor enhancers, emulsifiers, and chemical components that negatively affect human health.
How does caffeine affect the stomach?
The main enemy of the stomach walls is chlorogenic acids, which irritate them. The body accepts coffee as food, acidity increases, but there is no product for digestion. After a month of regular use, gastritis, ulcers, and in more rare cases, cancer may develop.
Excess caffeine increases nervousness, irritation, and anxiety. It invigorates for a while, but the effect wears off quickly. After this, the body receives a blow to the nervous, circulatory and digestive systems. In addition, it calls:
- Heartburn. This occurs due to relaxation of the lower cardinal sphincter. To prevent contents from escaping back into the esophagus, the muscle must be closed. If it is not food that first enters the stomach, but coffee, the hydrochloric acid contained in it enters the esophagus and irritates the mucous membrane.
- Ulcer. This disease is caused by the bacteria Helicobacter Pylori. The effect of coffee weakens the mucous membrane and allows them to multiply. The additives contained in the product irritate the mucous membrane of the small intestine. It is harmful for people with gastritis, Crohn's disease.
- Stimulation of peristalsis. Coffee consumed before breakfast promotes rapid emptying of the stomach, from where the product passes into the small intestine without being digested properly, which leads to gastrointestinal diseases.
The digestive system and emotional state are closely interconnected; drinking a lot of coffee on an empty stomach will negatively affect your mood and digestion of food.
Is all coffee bad for you on an empty stomach?
It is allowed to drink a brewed drink from green grains on an empty stomach; only after 15 minutes you need to have a good breakfast. Its constant use leads to weight loss, because excess calories are quickly burned, because coffee affects metabolism. But it is not recommended to make this a habit in order to lose weight, as it can have a negative impact on the body.
Effect of instant coffee
The disadvantage of drinking coffee in the morning on an empty stomach is the lack of absorption of a number of vitamins and microelements, such as magnesium, sodium and calcium. This leads to osteoporosis, especially in women. To prevent the development of the disease, replenishing the loss of microelements, you should drink a complex of vitamin-containing preparations.
Dependence is another negative factor that leads to an increase in the amount of drink consumed. But, getting rid of the habit, it is necessary to reduce its strength and volume gradually. The following groups of people are not advised to drink instant coffee:
- patients with hypertension, glaucoma;
- ischemic disease;
- people suffering from insomnia and prone to excitability.
Why can't you have a lot of coffee? Excessive consumption provokes exacerbation of gastritis, increases acidity, and affects male potency. The freeze-dried drink contains a higher percentage of caffeine than the natural product and is predominantly synthetic.
Ground natural coffee
Caffeine is considered an important constituent of coffee beans. In addition to it, it contains many other substances. The combination with lipids, soluble carbohydrates, and organic acids is beneficial. Benefits of natural ground coffee:
- increases endurance to physical activity, improves mood;
- fatty acids block the feeling of hunger, allowing you to lose weight;
- unroasted grains contain sufficient amounts of potassium and magnesium;
- the presence of microelements allows you to produce insulin, regulating blood sugar;
- a moderate amount of drink reduces mental fatigue, the risk of developing cancer, stroke; Parkinson's disease.
- slows down the aging process, because antioxidants fight free radicals.
But, abuse leads to such consequences as headaches, insomnia, and overexcitability. Increases blood pressure and general stomach acidity. Coffee bean lovers have problems with bearing a child; it causes smooth muscle contraction during pregnancy. Some people are positively affected by the properties of the product, while others are negatively affected.
Important! Even if there are no contraindications, it is recommended to limit yourself to drinking two cups of natural ground coffee per day.
Does milk mitigate the effect of coffee on the gastrointestinal tract?
Is it possible to have coffee with milk on an empty stomach? Thanks to the interaction of the product's components, the loss of calcium that occurs when drinking large amounts of coffee is compensated. Milk reduces the effects of caffeine on the nervous system, while maintaining its beneficial properties. The additive reduces the aggressiveness of the drink on the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines. The alkaline reaction of milk reduces acidity, preventing heartburn.
Coffee with milk on an empty stomach is not too harmful for patients with gastritis. But, it still increases the secretion of digestive enzymes, so the product is not completely safe. Often this combination of products is prescribed by nutritionists during a diet, as it causes a diuretic effect. It can reduce the negative effects of dyes, which has a positive effect on the whiteness of tooth enamel.
Coffee and digestion
Coffee contains several organic acids, including malic, oxalic, citric, tartaric, caffeic, and chlorogenic. If there is already some food in the stomach, all these substances will only improve digestion. But they can irritate the mucous membrane of an empty stomach. Of course, there are too few acids in one cup of coffee to cause damage to the internal organs of a healthy person at one time. But water wears away the stone, and if you constantly drink coffee on an empty stomach, then over time you will experience discomfort, stomach pain, heartburn, and then gastritis will creep up unnoticed.
Caffeine, entering the stomach, provokes the production of gastric juice, which contains hydrochloric acid. It is necessary for digesting food. However, if there is no food in the stomach, then hydrochloric acid only enhances the irritating effect of organic acids contained in coffee. The more caffeine in the drink, the more intensely gastric juice is produced. Accordingly, it is most harmful to drink coffee brewed from Robusta on an empty stomach.
In the morning, it is preferable to brew Arabica rather than mixtures with Robusta.
It is quite dangerous to follow the advice of some pseudo-nutritionists to replace breakfast with green coffee. The composition of raw grains differs from roasted ones only in the increased concentration of chlorogenic acid. It serves as an antioxidant and promotes the breakdown of fat cells. But before it ends up in the blood, it enters the stomach, where, just like other acids, it irritates the mucous membrane.
Therefore, 20–30 minutes after drinking green coffee, you should definitely eat. To prevent the effect of chlorogenic acid on the gastric mucosa from being destructive, it is not recommended to drink green coffee for weight loss for more than 3-4 weeks in a row.
There are a lot of organic acids in decaffeinated coffee, so you shouldn’t drink it on an empty stomach either. There are no organic acids in instant coffee. But in addition to caffeine, which provokes the production of hydrochloric acid, it contains chemicals that negatively affect the gastric mucosa.
Other negative impact
Gastroenterologists believe that drinking an aromatic drink while taking mineral preparations, especially those containing calcium, is harmful. The element will be better absorbed if the interval between taking the capsules and drinking a cup of coffee is at least 2 hours.
You should also know that coffee:
- provokes salivation and increases appetite;
- dulls thirst, which negatively affects the water balance in the body;
- harms the cardiovascular system;
- destroys tooth enamel.
To take steps towards health, it is important to recognize your dependence on a bad habit.
How does one cup affect the stomach if you drink it in the morning before meals?
Most people like to drink coffee in the morning to put themselves in order and finally wake up after a long sleep. And given the constant rush to work, people consume a portion without even having breakfast. But what could such a start to the day lead to?
The human body is designed in such a way that after waking up it produces a special hormone, cortisol, which is responsible for protecting the body from stress. When coffee enters the body, the substances included in the composition enhance the effect of this hormone, which subsequently has a devastating effect on health. People who drink a cup in the morning immediately after waking up, after refusing the drink, behave irritably and angry, since there is now an excess of cortisol in the body. The hormone level returns to normal only if a person stops drinking coffee in the morning and allows the body to cope with waking up on its own.
Drinking coffee before meals immediately after waking up is the decision of a person who cares little about his own health.
Of course, it will be impossible to avoid problems with the digestive system if you often drink the drink on an empty stomach, since the gastric juice will simply have nothing to digest, and it will damage the walls of the mucous membrane.
If a person cannot imagine life without a cup of aromatic drink in the morning, doctors recommend drinking green rather than black. But even this drink cannot replace a full breakfast, otherwise negative health consequences cannot be avoided. Therefore, 10-15 minutes after you need to have a full breakfast.
When is the best time to drink coffee?
So, should you drink coffee or not to be healthy? In the morning you can treat yourself to a pleasant drink, but after breakfast, no earlier than 30 minutes later. According to doctors, from 9.30 to 11.30 the level of cortisol in the blood decreases - this is the right moment. At this time, it will become a source of energy, vigor, increased performance, without causing harm.
If you break down your day into a coffee schedule, it will look like this:
- between 10 – 11 o’clock;
- from 12 to 13 hours;
- from 17.00 to 18.30.
There will be no harm to the body during this period, especially if the grains are of high quality. It’s beneficial if you drink a cup of the drink slowly and eat it with a cookie.
What kind of coffee can you drink on an empty stomach?
People often drink coffee in the morning on an empty stomach in order to reduce body weight. This product is famous for its fat burning effect. In this case, the drink is prepared from beans that have not been roasted. It is green fruits that have a similar effect. Drink coffee ten minutes before meals. Due to this, the process of burning fat is started, and soon after this food enters the stomach, and no harm is done to the digestive system.
You can drink green coffee for weight loss, but you must eat after drinking it. Otherwise, the active production of hydrochloric acid will lead to irritation of the stomach walls.
To reduce the negative impact of a natural drink, it is recommended to add additional cream or milk to it. It is advisable that the dosage of dairy products be large enough. Lattes are allowed. You can also make coffee with milk.
It is strongly recommended not to consume instant drinks before meals.
Instant coffee contains virtually no beneficial substances. The coffee beans themselves contain no more than fifteen percent. The main components are all kinds of chemical additives and flavorings. Even if you purchase an expensive product, it will contain stabilizers, aroma and taste enhancers, preservatives, and emulsifiers. Due to this, the negative effect on the stomach will significantly increase and adding milk will not change the situation.
Is it possible to replace coffee with something?
Yes, it is possible and even necessary. There are alternative methods to feel energized in the morning. I like the taste of coffee - chicory is a worthy replacement, it contains insulin, which helps the digestive system.
Green tea and dark chocolate are a powerful boost of energy. The products contain antioxidants that give vitality.
Lemon water is an excellent replacement for morning coffee; it replenishes the supply of water that is lost overnight, strengthens the immune system, and improves the condition of the skin and gastrointestinal tract.
Freshly squeezed citrus juice gives a refreshing and invigorating effect. Contains iron, vitamin C, antioxidants. But it is important that the juice is always fresh.
Does the effect on the stomach depend on the type of coffee?
The share of coffee in instant mixtures is sometimes about 15%, the rest is additives, and the chemical components additionally irritate the stomach.
Many people wonder what is the difference between natural coffee and instant coffee. Of course, in instant coffee the proportion of caffeine is much lower; preservatives and stabilizers predominate in it. This negatively affects the condition of the body, since in addition to caffeine, dangerous chemical additives affect the gastric mucosa. Therefore, instant coffee is considered more harmful than natural coffee, but harm can come from both varieties.
There is also an opinion that decaffeinated coffee is much healthier than natural and instant coffee. Let's figure out if this is really so.
In order to decaffeine coffee, a lot of manipulations are required, as a result of which it is almost impossible to avoid the formation of other chemicals. Because of this, decaffeinated coffee ceases to be as harmless as it seems at first glance.
Also, when coffee is processed, this leads to the formation of a considerable concentration of free fatty acids, which subsequently leads to an increase in cholesterol levels in the human body.
How does coffee affect metabolism?
Scientists have found that improper consumption of coffee can lead to the development of cancer processes not only in the stomach, but also in the liver, pancreas and bladder. For example, the liver perceives coffee as an irritating poison, so it fights it. When this struggle occurs regularly, depletion of reserves occurs, and metabolic lesions, such as fatty degeneration, can develop.
It also interferes with calcium absorption. Therefore, it is recommended to drink calcium supplements an hour before an invigorating drink or two after.
If coffee is consumed in large quantities from adolescence, this can lead to the development of osteoporosis, which in turn negatively affects the figure and posture.
Coffee also has a diuretic effect, so it is not suitable for everyone, and even in healthy people it can lead to dehydration. Coffee can make you feel thirsty, so many people at the end of the day may note that they only drank an invigorating drink. This fact, plus the diuretic effect, does not have the best effect on kidney function. It is worth noting that dehydration has a detrimental effect on blood pressure and cardiac activity.
