We all want to live long and, if possible, happily. It is strange that our desire sometimes diverges from our actions: we have not learned to eat properly, we ignore the need for sleep and a healthy lifestyle. And all the time we charge ourselves with additional drinks: coffee, tea, cocktails of vigor.
But do we know everything about how to drink coffee and its effect on our body?
Today we decided to answer 5 important questions about coffee:
- When is it better to drink coffee before or after meals?
- How to drink coffee correctly to perk up.
- Which coffee is better, instant or ground?
- How to combine coffee with exercise to lose weight.
- Coffee in the morning or evening.
There are a predominant number of coffee lovers around, this is an established fact, although you may well be a tea lover and now raise your eyebrow suspiciously. But...think about it. They meet for lunch, where you will come to give preference to tea drinks. You can see them rushing to the subway, having managed to buy a plastic cup from a newsstand. They even take the form of a young mother out for a walk or a flock of girlfriends who have gone out on a daytime promenade. In shopping centers we are surrounded by coffee machines, in parks among the aromas of corn and popcorn we will certainly find the smell of fresh beans, we become addicted to coffee. And, to be honest, this fact does not scare us at all.
After all, coffee is always pleasant, tasty, and affordable. And yet, to ensure that the coffee treat is not only tasty, but also beneficial for our charming citizens, we analyzed some aspects of the life of coffee lovers. It turned out that for many people the question becomes relevant:
WHEN IS IT BETTER TO DRINK COFFEE BEFORE OR AFTER A MEAL?
Oddly enough, many experts disagree on this matter. We tried to figure it out thoroughly.
What time of day is best to drink coffee?
Drinking coffee on an empty stomach, especially combining it with the first cigarette in the morning, is a habit of many smokers, a kind of special ritual. It may look beautiful as a ritual, especially in films and photos, but in life it causes irreparable harm to our health. Drinking coffee on an empty stomach will fill the body with additional acids and tannins, which will negatively affect the stomach. An ulcer or gastritis may even worsen, and this is definitely of no use to us. Therefore, we absolutely understand that coffee and cigarettes on an empty stomach are taboo.
In the morning, when the body has just woken up, it is dominated by such an important hormone as cortisol. Do you remember in the article about blood pressure that we wrote that this hormone is responsible for stress in the body? So, a useful fact is that it is this hormone that helps us wake up and be alert in the morning. Now imagine that you add caffeine to your natural vigor, which will also want to give you strength. The overall effect will be unpleasant, and instead of the long-awaited activity, your heart may begin to beat very quickly, you may even experience tremors, and after a while you will be drawn back to sleep.
Therefore, ideally, eat porridge and drink a cup of black coffee for breakfast. However, you may prefer tea, because it also contains caffeine, which will help you wake up. After a couple of hours, closer to 11:00, cortisol will not be as active, which is when the effect of caffeine can begin.
Not only activity, but also hormones
The cells of the hypothalamus, or more precisely the suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN, determine the biological rhythms of the body and have many functions. It controls your wake and sleep cycle, your food and energy intake, your body's sugar levels, and hormone production, among other things.
For human activity, the control of the suprachiasmatic nucleus over the level of cortisol, the so-called “stress” hormone, is of particular importance.
Most of us prefer to have a cup of coffee at 8am or so, but is that really the best time to get a caffeine boost? The circadian rhythm of cortisol production proves that it is not.
DRINK COFFEE IN THE MORNING OR EVENING
Enjoy a cup of espresso upon arrival at work or during a break, maybe even with a piece of chocolate, for those losing weight - bitter, you will definitely get more pleasure from the process, and it will also be useful. You can also drink black coffee with milk throughout the day, preferably no more than three cups and preferably before 18:00.
It’s curious, but we know of cases where a person drank coffee in the evenings, just in order to get a good night’s sleep. One of my friends drinks coffee with dinner and then goes to bed. Caffeine does not prevent her from getting enough sleep and being in a good mood in the morning.
HOW TO DRINK COFFEE CORRECTLY TO CHECK UP
We love coffee precisely because it helps us feel more energetic, because with it even important tasks are completed faster, as soon as you drink a cup of espresso. We must remember that the vigor we need is contained most of all in strong black coffee - espresso, Americano. If you prefer weaker coffee desserts, such as cappuccino, frappuccino, iced glass, latte, then do not expect strong “doping”. More milk and tasty additives, less caffeine - a law that needs to be learned. If you want to be cheerful and cheerful, drink pure black ground coffee Bongiorno Nord.
HOW TO COMBINE COFFEE WITH WORKOUTS TO LOSE WEIGHT
Not long ago we talked about how black coffee helps with weight loss and this is true. It contains no calories, speeds up metabolism, and its diuretic properties help remove water from the body. An excellent weight loss effect, provided that you didn’t swallow a couple of sandwiches or donuts with a cup of coffee.
We should also talk about caffeine and training. If you are a frequent visitor to the gym, fitness center or athlete, then this question is also relevant. Drink coffee before or after training , what is the effect in both cases ? How not to harm yourself? We found this out too.
By drinking coffee before training, you help yourself dull fatigue, and our body begins to use internal fats as a source of energy. That is, you can even increase the duration of your workout thanks to caffeine, and you will spend less effort and burn excess fat at the same time. Definitely benefits from coffee! The only time when you should refrain from taking an invigorating drink is if your heart beats quickly after drinking coffee, and significantly faster. During training, you already put a strain on your heart, so there is no need to increase it with the effect of coffee. By the way, any trainer advises drinking coffee during the day or before training, because they know exactly the beneficial properties of coffee for the body.
When it comes to coffee after a workout, there are controversial issues. A significant plus is the reduction in pain after working out in the gym. Everyone is familiar with lactic acid, which is found in abundance in everyone’s body; it is this acid that reminds us of itself with aching pains as soon as we move. So, coffee reduces this pain.
Of course, there have been and will always be controversial issues, because one person’s body is different from another, especially since athletes and those who lead a healthy lifestyle perceive some products differently, not just coffee. Therefore, you need to decide whether to drink coffee before and after training or not to drink it depending on how you feel.
Why is the idea about the dangers of drinking untenable?
As we wrote above, the theory behind this common statement is that drinking liquid during meals has a bad effect on the concentration of digestive juices, as a result of which the proper breakdown of food and absorption of nutrients is impaired.
To make such statements, you need to understand very well (not only in theory, but also in practice) the principles of how our body works. Unfortunately, very often malicious ideas are based on a distorted understanding of these mechanisms and a lack of information.
According to American nutritionist Tamara Duker Freiman, who wrote the best-selling book on digestion “The Bloated Belly Whisperer,” in fact, neither water, nor tea, nor coffee can significantly reduce the acidity of gastric juice. Yes, everything we consume (food or drink) makes the stomach environment a little less acidic for a short time, but after a few seconds the stomach responds by producing as much acid as is necessary to digest the food, because that is its job. This fact was scientifically confirmed by Canadian researchers in 2004.
Thus, contrary to popular myth, modern scientists have proven that drinking water, tea or coffee during meals does not harm our digestion.
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Moreover, the liquid in the stomach makes food particles less dense, and therefore more accessible to enzymes that are involved in the breakdown process. And that's good too. It's important to note that all of these facts work the same for most drinks we include in our diet - water, tea, coffee, juices and even soda. Another thing is that some of them are “burdened down” with extra calories, and are not always able to fully quench their thirst.
WHICH IS BETTER TO DRINK GROUND OR INSTANT COFFEE
Statistically, instant coffee is preferred over ground coffee in most cases due to its economical price and ease of preparation. You don’t need any coffee machines, cones, unnecessary movements, and the taste, if you add sugar, is not particularly distinguishable. This, of course, is a controversial statement, because, as we know, sugar changes our sense of taste and the taste of a good strong black Americano is very difficult to taste. But true coffee lovers and connoisseurs of hot drinks will tell you - only in a coffee machine and only black, maybe sugar or a little cinnamon, but only ground coffee. Let's see the differences.
Instant coffee is a drink made from coffee beans that have undergone technological processing. Coffee connoisseurs will tell you with confidence that drinking this kind of coffee is not respecting yourself. And they will be right, because natural ground coffee is much healthier, more aromatic and tastier. It contains all the important properties that we wrote about above. And excellent vigor, and benefits for weight loss, and a bright rich aroma and taste.
The real beans from which ground coffee is obtained are grown on plantations. There are two types of coffee:
- Arabica
- Robusta
Arabica is the most popular type and the most expensive. Many people love the wonderful taste of 100% Arabica coffee, for example, Bongiorno Premium from Colombia. It is curious that the finished Arabica drink has virtually no odor.
At the same time, Robusta is recognized as less rich, but it contains more caffeine and is more invigorating. It is the presence of Robusta in the composition that helps us feel vivacity, and at the same time the bitter taste; it is often used for espresso. The average type of ground coffee is a mixture of Arabica and Robusta, such as in Bongiorno Alongsi. Depending on the proportions, aromas, richness of taste, bitterness and, of course, the price category change.
One way or another, you have to work hard to get natural coffee. Thousands of people work hard to ensure that you can enjoy one small cup of natural coffee. But its taste, color, rich aroma are a pleasure of a separate level. Your mood immediately improves and optimism moves with you.
Is it possible to drink coffee on an empty stomach?
There are dangers from morning coffee, as well as the threat of excess caffeine in the body from excessive consumption. Although not proven. After all, no one shouts that tea is harmful, but it sometimes contains even more caffeine than some types of coffee!
This is where the first mistake of coffee lovers lies, which we do not take seriously. First, the caffeine in tea and coffee is of slightly different nature and is released differently. Secondly, tea caffeine has virtually no effect on the body, which cannot be said about “coffee caffeine”. Therefore, there should be moderation in its consumption, if only because with an excess of coffee, instead of vigor and energy, you get nervousness and irritability.
Is it possible to drink coffee on an empty stomach? It's possible, but it's harmful. A dose that is more than 1-2 cups on an empty stomach, by the way, is as harmful as it is after a hearty lunch. But usually it is not coffee that is harmful, but its instant analogue, which is made from low-quality varieties, is roasted incorrectly and contains a heavy dose of caffeine. When the stomach is empty, this surrogate is powerfully thrown into the blood and hits the nervous system, heart, blood vessels, kidneys and stomach. Sooner or later you will feel arrhythmia, overexcitability and insomnia. Therefore, advice: drink only natural and unfiltered coffee - aromatic, tasty, reliable and healthy!
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