This one is for all the coffee drinkers out there. Hello, my name is Phoebe and I have a love affair with coffee, and certainly not impartial to an Espresso Martini. Truth be told, I am writing this with a delicious coffee in hand.

Yes, I am a Naturopath and I drink coffee – SHOCK HORROR! Unless coffee doesn’t agree with you or you hate the taste, in my humble opinion a coffee a day is absolutely O.K! In fact, coffee has been associated with a number of positive health outcomes, such as increased concentration (isn’t that cool!?). Yet like most things, too much of anything is not necessarily a great thing and can quickly be associated with a number of undesirable health outcomes (hello increased anxiety, trembling hands, nausea, upset gut, insomnia sloppy coffee poos etc).

According o the FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand), there is no recognised health-based guidance value for daily caffeine intake. However, a FSANZ Expert Working Group analysed the available literature in 2000 studies, concluding there was evidence of increased anxiety in adults consuming 240 mg per day (approximately three cups of instant coffee). Furthermore, studies have shown an increased risk of cardiovascular disease with chronic excess coffee consumption (6 cups or more/day).

SO! What is the ideal coffee consumption? For my coffee-drinking patients and in general, if we can get coffee consumption down to 1-2 SHOTS (not cups) of coffee/day – that is ideal, delicious, and has not been associated with any adverse health effects. Note: 1 shot of coffee typically contains between 70-100 mg of caffeine. There is also caffeine in other foods/drinks, i.e. green tea, chocolate, soft drinks (especially coke) and energy drinks - so watch out for these sneaky sources of caffeine.

Some other tips to help with your coffee consumption

🔸️Start your day with a glass of water (not coffee), that is you are starting your day with hydration not dehydration! 💧

🔸️Ideally drinking coffee away from food, to help maximise the absorption of all the amazing foods you are eating. For example your morning could look like: jump out of bed, rip open the blinds, glass of water, get ready for the day/breakfast. Then an hour or so later....your delicious morning coffee!

🔸️Needing that coffee hit in the afternoon? First of all, ask yourself why is your body craving that coffee in the afternoon? Can we be tweaking a few things to help avoid this? Are you stressed? Are you eating enough? Did you get a good sleep the night before? And so on.

Happy coffee drinking folks!

Nutmeg xx