☕️ Caffeine Savvy Tips

Want to go Super Saiyan with your morning brew? Unleash your inner Goku and master the art of healthy caffeine consumption.

Coffee = Life

For those of you that think I’m going to tell you to swear off caffeine, I wouldn’t dare.

Let’s be real, coffee is crucial for survival. Dinosaurs 🦖 were lacking caffeine and we saw how that turned out.

My own mother would unsubscribe if I said give up coffee. Love you Mom!

Caffeine is one of the most studied substances out there. We have endless data and you will see some positive and some negative.

What this means is it’s a net neutral. If scientists are torn, it can’t be overly bad or overly good.

If it does have a negative effect, it is negligible in comparison to benefits and reasons people use caffeine.

It comes down to each person’s individual response and ways you use it to make it better or worse.

Some benefits of caffeine

• ☕️ Mental: we’ve all felt the brain 🧠 power boost of alertness, focus, and concentration we gain with that dopamine hit from caffeine

• ☕️ Physical: it’s common in pre-workouts and seems to provide a boost of energy in the gym

• ☕️ Quality of Life: a morning ritual that brings you more joy than Buddy the Elf in a department store at Christmas 🎅 

• ☕️ Reduces Appetite: there are connections to caffeine as a fat burner and controlling hunger

• ☕️ Poop: coffee gives your bowels 💩 a wake-up call to give you that morning cleanse

NERD ALERT 🤓: Caffeine’s main mechanism of effectiveness is blocking adenosine receptors in our brain. Adenosine is released to promote relaxation and sleepiness by slowing down nerve activity. When caffeine blocks these adenosine receptors, it prevents the calming effects, leading to increased alertness and wakefulness.

Timing and Dose

Caffeine is a stimulant but it is a mild one. Where people go wrong is often with the timing and the dosing.

Slow or fast caffeine metabolizer? I’m for sure slow. Without a cutoff time, I’ll be up all night staring at the ceiling plotting my zombie apocalypse survival 🧟 

The half-life on caffeine for most people is about 5-6 hours. After this amount of time half of it is still in your system.

Most sleep experts say, to avoid effecting the quality of your sleep, cut off caffeine anywhere from 8-12 hours before bed, depending on your level of sensitivity.

Some of you are still able to fall and stay asleep with caffeine later in the day but the depth and quality of your sleep is compromised.

This could be why you wake up feeling groggy and begging for more coffee to hide how tired you really are!

Depends on your tolerance but 100-200 mg prior to doing a focus/physical activity and up to 400 mg (four 8 ounce cups) per day is ideal.

If need more, it’s time to reset your caffeine sensitivity!

Dr. Matt Walker is a sleep expert and breaks down the science around caffeine and your bedtime

What do you add to your coffee? ☕️ 

You likely know the answer here. Avoid the creamers, sugar, and artificial sweeteners.

You transform your good caffeine drink into something that could give you the opposite goal because of sugar. Liquid sugar drinks spike your blood sugar the most.

This then leads to the crash and lethargic feeling that can override the caffeine.

Healthier options would be straight black coffee or add things like: whole milk or full fat heavy cream (grass-fed if possible), 100% unsweetened cacao powder, teaspoon cinnamon, unsweetened coconut milk, nut milks, collagen powder, adaptogens.

A good creamer option that is plant based ingredients would be Laird

If must have something sweet, go with stevia, monk fruit, or raw organic honey (if it doesn’t give you sugar crash feeling).

If you have a good quality bean with peak freshness, you may realize that coffee can taste pretty good on its own. Black gas station coffee, gross 🤮 

Quality Coffee

How do we get coffee as fresh as Ferris Bueller on his day off and that aroma and taste that immediately makes your day better?!

Start buy buying in smaller bags instead of bulk.

After break the seal, ground coffee peak freshness is 7-10 days and whole beans is about 2-3 weeks.

The coffee is still good this is just when it is the best for those looking to maximize your Joe’s freshness and quality!

Freezing coffee isn’t like produce. Freezing beans can lead to condensation and moisture exposure.

If want to freeze it, the best approach is break into two week portions, vacuum seal, freeze.

It’s best to store them in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.

If trying to avoid even the smallest amount of pesticides and mold toxins, look for labels such as: USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance Certified, Bird Friendly, Fair Trade, and Speciality Trade.

There is a ton of great brands out there. I like Bulletproof, Four Sigmatic, and LifeBoost.

Roast Types: Light ☕️ Medium ☕️ Medium-Dark ☕️ Dark

• Dark roast may be easier on the gut due to less acidity

• Light roast have brighter, more complex flavor w/some sweetness. Dark are bolder and more bitter

• Light roasts retain more antioxidants

• Light roasts have slightly more caffeine

• Really though, it comes down to which tastes the best to you

Tips and Tricks

• Cold Brew: generally less acidic so easier on teeth and gut, less bitter taste, higher caffeine content, and longer brew time retains more antioxidants

• Filtered: the EU Journal of Preventative Cardiology says drinking filtered coffee lowers cardiovascular risk. Unfiltered contains 30x more cholesterol raising compounds.

• French Press: retains oils and antioxidants but can have effect on cholesterol due to diterpenes from lacking filtration

• K-cup: if want to avoid the microplastics in your coffee, get a re-usable stainless steel k-cup to put your ground coffee in. Also allows you to choose a higher quality coffee

• Caffeine Pills: for some people, coffee messes with their gut but caffeine pills they have no problem

• Single Origin vs Blend: recommend single since this tells you where it came from where a blend the beans are a mystery and can often be an inferior bean

• Withdrawal: if you decide to go off caffeine or reduce your consumption you may have 1-3 day withdrawal headache. It will pass.

• Grinding: Grind your own beans if want more control. The finer the grind, the more polyphenols you extract

• Cycling: your body adjusts to caffeine requiring more. If you want to maximize the effects consider cycling it to every other day or only when you need it. If been on caffeine a long time it takes about 7 days off to reset your tolerance.

CAFFEINE SUBSTITUTES

Quickly, for those that are sensitive to caffeine and looking for a replacement in the morning to give you a kick OR maintain some morning drink ritual, try out one of the below to start off your mornings:

• Adaptogens

• Nootropics

• Exercise/Mobility Routine

• Cold Plunge

• Hot apple cider

• Golden Milk

• Smoothie

• Bone Broth

• Decaf or Tea

Happy brewing ☕️ 

Last newsletter: ⚡️ Electrolyte Power Guide ⚡️ 

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