A Few Reasons To Consider NOT Drinking Coffee First Thing In The Morning

Wake up, roll out of bed, have a cup of coffee. Does this routine sound familiar to you? Besides being delicious, coffee provides a nice jolt, and so it is no wonder why so many of us like to enjoy a steaming hot mug of it every morning. While coffee does have many health benefits, drinking it or any caffeinated beverage first thing in the morning may not be such a healthy habit.

Caffeine is considered a mild diuretic, which means that it flushes water and excess sodium through the body. While diuretics are generally quite safe, ingesting them in the morning is not optimal. The body loses close to a liter of water every night, so we tend to be slightly dehydrated when we wake up. For this reason, ingesting caffeine, and becoming even more dehydrated, is not a good idea.

Coffee raises cortisol levels, which causes you to become more awake and alert. This is probably the biggest reason that drinking coffee in the morning is so popular. Unfortunately, increased cortisol levels also cause you to become stressed and anxious – not a good way to start off the day. Furthermore, cortisol levels usually peak in the morning about 30 minutes after waking up. If you can manage to get through that first half-hour without any coffee, you will become more alert without any unnecessary stress and anxiety.

Lastly, coffee stimulates the production of acid in the stomach and digestive system. This is perfectly fine after some other food or drink has been consumed, but on an empty stomach, this acid can damage your stomach lining, causing indigestion and heartburn. A cup of coffee on an empty stomach in the morning could cause digestion problems for the rest of the day and could even cause acid reflux later in the evening when you are trying to sleep.

While all this might be pretty disappointing to coffee lovers, there is no reason that you have to eliminate coffee from your morning routine altogether. Rather, consider avoiding caffeinated drinks as the first thing that you drink each morning. Drinking a cup of water when you first wake up and waiting until a little later in the morning before having your first cup of coffee could cause you to feel more alert and less anxious throughout the day. If you want to get creative, a glass of water with lemon or lime juice is a little more exciting and provides the added benefit of vitamin C. Leaving a glass of water beside your bed each evening can help remind you to have water as the first thing you drink every morning. Consider this minor tweak in your morning routine to improve your health and feel better throughout the day.