Prevention Australia – June – July 2017

Nutrition

JUNE/JULY 2017 PREVENTION 39

C

afeine is one of the world’s most

popular drugs. Once inside your

body, it blocks brain receptors for

adenosine, a molecule associated

with tiredness. Over time, however, the

brain chemistry of cofee drinkers changes,

triggering production of more adenosine

receptors. The result is a need for increasing

amounts of cafeine to stay alert. Quit

cafeine and you may experience headaches,

fatigue and cloudy thinking.

Despite these concerns, evidence

suggests that cofee intake may reduce

the incidence of diabetes, lower

risk of stroke, and improve HDL

(‘good’) cholesterol levels.

Some people may even

be less likely to develop

Parkinson’s disease as

a result of regularly

drinking cofee. And,

contrary to popular

belief, moderate

cofee consumption

does not significantly

increase blood

pressure. Still,

cofee shouldn’t be

considered a health

beverage. In addition to

its addictive nature, too

much cafeine can cause

anxiety, tremors, insomnia

and palpitations.

Cafeinated beverages are

diuretics, meaning they cause you

to urinate more. Cafeine can also irritate the

bladder as well as the digestive tract. If you

experience any of these symptoms, you are

probably better of avoiding all cafeinated

beverages and even decaf cofee, which still

contains small amounts of cafeine.

Keep in mind that the research studies

on cofee’s potential health benefits usually

involve black cofee, not a milky latte from

your local barista.

If you enjoy cofee, try limiting yourself

to one or two cups a day (for a total

of about 300mg of cafeine).

Avoid cafeinated energy

drinks and soft drinks, but go

ahead and treat yourself

each day to a small piece

of dark chocolate with

a cacao content of at

least 70 per cent; it

has health benefits

despite containing

cafeine.

If you do

decide you want to

break the cafeine

habit, wean yourself

of slowly. Give

yourself three days

to do it. You may

feel irritated and less

energetic than usual

and may even develop

a bothersome headache,

but you should feel better

within a few days.

HOW

BIG IS

YOUR

JOLT?

Here’s how much

cafeine you’ll get

from a 250ml cup of

your favourite sips

MILLIGRAMS

Café-style coffee

Instant coffee

Energy drink

Cola

Iced coffee

Black tea

Green tea

Milk chocolate

(per 100g)

Dark chocolate

(per 100g)

50 100 150 200 250 300

Source: Food Standards Australia New

Zealand/Australian Institute of Sport

BREAKOUT BOX BY STEPHANIE ECKELKAMP. PHOTOGRAPHY iSTOCK.

WOULD YOU LIKE

THE USUAL TODAY?

The next time you visit your favourite barista on

the way to the office, you may want to rethink

your first caffeine hit of the day. If any of the

following are in your usual order, think again:

SUBTRACT Sugar A bit of regular sugar

won’t hurt you, but if you’re drinking several

coffees per day, those empty kilojoules pile

up fast. Adding just 2 tsp of sugar to each of

your three daily cups equates to about 48g

total, or more than what’s in a can of Coke.

SUBTRACT Flavour shots Indulging in coffee

drinks doctored with squirts of vanilla, hazelnut

and caramel is pretty much like shooting up

pure cane sugar and artificial colours.

SWAP That full-cream latte for skinny You’ll

save virtually half the kilojoules if you rethink

your milk. A skim milk latte has 540 kJ (128 cal)

where the full fat version has 940 kJ (224 cal).

So that morning energy fix may be unwittingly

contributing to weight gain.

THINK Before ordering an afternoon

pick-me-up Coffee has a half life of five to

six hours, which means that if you have

a coffee at 4pm, half the caffeine is still

surging through your system at 9pm.