What’s your favourite time of day for a cuppa?
Is it first thing even before breakfast – a few years ago a cup of coffee was my breakfast!
Is caffeine a mid morning treat for you after a couple of hours hard work?
Maybe you reach for the caffeine mid afternoon to help you fight flagging energy levels. It probably does perk you up briefly.
But did you know caffeine prevents healthy weight loss and encourages menopause weight gain?
Yes, you read that right.
Caffeine will stop you from losing weight and stimulates menopause weight gain.
You’ve heard of the flight or flight response right.
It’s an ancient response mechanism that causes your adrenal glands to release adrenalin. The release of adrenalin causes your body to release sugars into your blood stream which in turn releases a rush of energy.
The stimulus for the fight or flight response is stress. Ten thousand years ago, that was the stress of an attack by a neighbouring tribe, the stress of fleeing from a dangerous animal or the stress of needing to feed your family.
The fight or flight response gave you the energy you needed to fight off a warring tribe, run from a dangerous animal or chase it to catch your dinner.
Your fight or flight response is still triggered by stress but of course modern day stresses are very different.
They’re made up of emails, traffic jams, telephone calls, dodgy wifi signals and even scary movies.
One of the most common modern day stressors is caffeine.
Drinking tea, coffee or any other caffeinated drink triggers your fight or flight response.
The adrenalin and sugar release means you’ve got the energy to run but you’ve got nowhere to run to! You’re still sat at your desk, stuck in the car or slumped in front of the TV.
Your body still needs to do something with the sugar so insulin is released to get it out of your blood stream. At the same time cortisol is released to reduce the adrenalin in your system.
And here’s the thing, it’s the combination of cortisol and insulin together that means the main location for sugar storage is around your middle.
But of course it’s not stored as sugar – it’s stored as fat.
The fat around your tummy is actually a form of inflammation that releases its own hormones creating further hormone imbalance in your already stressed body.
Healthy weight loss is impossible whilst caffeine is a regular part of your day.
Caffeine doesn’t just stop you from losing weight; the hormone imbalance it creates actually increases your appetite.
How do you feel about your daily cuppa now? Are you ready to cut out the caffeine?
Going cold turkey from caffeine can leave you headachy, bad tempered and tired so I suggest you gradually reduce your intake.
In a few short weeks you’ll be caffeine free and that menopause weight gain will start to shift.
Who do you know that’s struggling with menopause weight gain and still drinking caffeine. Help them out by sharing this blog.
