Fat Burning Exercise Boost or Not? The Downside of Coffee

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Happy New Year and happy coffee, because anytime you're listening is coffee time. And this subject doesn't come up probably often enough, but it's one that really should. I mean, it crosses my thought barrier every single day, every single morning. So I want to talk a little bit about the downside of coffee, and I'm going to talk about pros and cons, by the way. So if you're starting or wondering, I don't want to start this because she's going to tell me I I'm not telling that, but I want to give you some way to make an informed decision. The downside of coffee for many is the gut devastation. For others, if we're talking caffeinated coffee, not decaf, it's the jitters. So some women rely on coffee for pooping, and that's not good, by the way. We want to restore your factory settings right before— you never needed this when you were a child, right?. And so gut changes, stress, you know, how we think about things— it literally, we're sending messages that are pro and con. But we also may have issues with gut microbiome, and I'm not going to pack all of that right now, but that is a part of it. And by the way, if you only poop because you drink your coffee, let's fix it. And, um, you know, I know this issue, and I'm going to tell you all in this upcoming issue. All right, I'm Debra Atkinson and you're listening to Flipping 50, where I address your top struggles and concerns. But more than anything, we want this to inspire you and inform you so you expect and demand better products and better services for flipping your second and better half. I share what to eat, how to move, and how to change your mindset in, say, an episode like this so you can have the energy and vitality that you want, need, and deserve in the second and better half. So let's dive into this. Here's, here's the deal. Your DNA may actually determine how well you metabolize caffeine, but so can presence of other stressors, whether you've eaten or not, and medications. Caffeine may temporarily raise metabolism, boost your workout intensity and the fat burning during and after. But for those of us most likely to send up a cheer— whoo, yay, I'm so glad, right? I'm just patting you on the back for drinking your coffee— it may not be us. Here's why. The caffeine kick is only really supportive for those that do not regularly consume large quantities of caffeine. And large is a relative number. If you consume 300 milligrams of caffeine or more a day, you and I, friend, are very unlikely to get that ergogenic boost, which is an exercise boost releasing more fatty acids, supporting fat burning during exercise, all the perks that make the exercise not feel as hard as it really is, help us to go a little faster or last a little bit longer with more endurance. We don't get those kicks because we have too much regularly. Our system is already on go. Okay, when I was in high school, I want to tell you how this works. And my story is this: I rarely drank soda and coffee. We just didn't have it around the house, you know. I wasn't, I wasn't like, I don't drink pop, not drinking pop, because if I would go to a slumber party or we would have a pizza after the game on a Friday night at a friend's house, we would have soda with it, of course. But it wasn't a staple at my house unless somebody had the stomach flu. You know, I'm not sure at this point how effective 7-Up really was. But that's when we most often drank pop, or maybe with popcorn at the movies. So when I first went out with a guy that I had been serious about for about 5 years after that, we hung out with other people at a pizza joint. That first— it wasn't even a date yet. It was just, you know, we did this after the pool closed and I was a lifeguard. I had a Diet Pepsi and without a second thought, I, I'd ordered it. It was probably 9 PM because the pool closed. It was dark. I was up all night. The 9 PM soda was not a wise move. And when I told the guy, he was like, "Oh." I was hoping it was because of me. Well, maybe I should have played my cards differently because although the guy was great, that sleepless night was most definitely due to the caffeine. The next year at college, I was introduced to soda regularly. It's almost hard not to be, I think. I lived in a dorm. You know, all my roommates were drinking soda on the regular, and I fell into this pattern for the stay up all night, you know, and that don't drink your calories benefit. It was Diet Coke. The summer after that, I was introduced to coffee by my brother and sister-in-law and Diet Cokes in the afternoon. So it was starting with coffee, some really bad coffee, by the way. I thought I discovered the secret to thin Southern women. They weren't fit, they were dehydrated because they seemed to drink Diet Coke like it was water. Throughout college and grad school, getting up to teach 6:00 AM classes or getting the energy up again to teach 4:50 classes or 4:30 classes or 5:30 classes, whatever it was, I relied on Diet Coke way too much. To study before my 6:00 AM start to my day and to teach another class at 5:30 or 4:30. I was totally reliant on it. And that was Diet Coke, right? So not really sugar, but it was caffeine. And it's about then that the caffeine stopped helping me. I don't just reach then at that point for a can before class, I reached for two. So like any drug addict, there's an escalation. The little hit you used to do no longer does it. You gotta have some more. That's where I was. And you might guess what happened next. My gut was a hot mess. I was having at least 2 Diet Cokes a day, and often I was not having just those, but I'd have maybe one while I was in the office as a grad assistant or one on the way to that afternoon or evening class because I'd already had a really long day. And that was just a really bad cycle. So artificial sweeteners, by the way, in diet sodas are 400 times as sweet as sugar and they can still trigger blood sugar spikes. So imagine what was happening to me. I was unintentionally a hypocrite teaching health and fitness and living a kind of a junk food life with 24-packs of soda as a part of my weekly grocery list. They would come out with cherry Diet Coke, and I thought I was in heaven, you know. And it was just— it even got to, to the point it tasted bad because I was having that much. And when it wasn't my Diet Coke, it was coffee that I was introduced to that first summer after college. That substitute was unfortunately a concoction of chemicals. Does anybody remember General Foods Swiss International— I'm getting it wrong— International Foods coffees, like Orange Cappuccino. That's the one that I was introduced to and hooked to it for so many times, so many years, in fact. And then I would alternate that. Maybe Swiss Mocha would become another one. Those were the two. Do you know how much garbage is in that? I feel like I'm at a confessional right now, but you have just seen and heard Fast forward for decades, I began offering DNA testing for clients who really wanted to deep dive into their genetic predisposition for disease to identify how we could have their exercise most optimal for them, you know, and how they could eat most optimally for their DNA and have the optimal expression of genetics by changing daily and weekly habits. I never share something that I haven't used first. So I found out from my own DNA test first that I will do better with a higher percentage of endurance exercise. I will get fit faster doing that. Now that doesn't mean I'm not a woman in midlife who's been losing muscle mass and has to look at what I need to do for bone density and muscle mass. You can't negate where you are in the phase of life that you're in. But, you know, at some point when it's reasonable, I can come back to endurance exercise and probably be more fit for the rest of my life because I'm doing that and honoring my DNA. And I also do well with a higher amount of carbohydrates in my diet than do some people, meaning I probably won't do as well or will have to work harder to do a keto lifestyle. It's not gonna work. But again, I probably need less or fewer carbohydrates than I did 10 or 20 years ago, certainly. And I am predisposed for obesity. Many of us are. But your lifestyle habits, they are what determine the expression of those genetics. But what I also learned, dangerously so, is I metabolize caffeine quickly. You know, a coffee-drinking girl loves to learn that. It's like, no guilt, I can have a third cup Sweet, right? But it doesn't mean that it can't, or it doesn't spike a midlife woman's blood sugar and wreak havoc with her gut. So if you regularly have that 300 milligrams of caffeine a day or more, and that honey is 1 cup, 1 mug, and let's say that you're definitely there, then trying to have coffee before a workout is not going to give you that ergogenic aid or boost. And nor will it, um, be wise for you to add more than you're already having. Your body is adapted. So is it better maybe to position that caffeine right before a workout? I would say yes, so that you metabolize it, so you can— you're increasing your cortisol level, right? So we use cortisol as an energy hormone for exercise. So could you kind of offset the negative effects of it? Yes. And I've talked about this as I talk about blood sugar monitoring, wearing a continuous blood sugar monitor. I know my habit in the morning that I've decided I'm not willing to give up because I like it and, and it does help me to focus. And it may simply be that it's a warm mug, but I found herbal tea just does not cut it for me. So I enjoy it and I'm going to keep doing it. But I've walked. In the morning after to offset that cortisol spike. So there are other episodes that we can tap into for that. I'm not going to go any deeper in it. The question is, if you tolerate caffeine, you— if you don't have very much regularly or you have it infrequently, then within 30 minutes of exercise it can boost your use of fat during that exercise, and after it enhances the fatty acid release. But here's the downside of coffee. As I've mentioned already, there's a couple, but 58% of coffee contains mycotoxins. M-Y-C-O toxins. These nasty little compounds grow from mold on beans in various stages of coffee production. Now look, and people know coffee is a business, right? And everybody's trying to sell their own brand and this and that. But here's what those mycotoxins can lead to, among other things. But here's the kicker for us. I believe that this is a problem. These are also common symptoms of menopause. So this can be hard to unpack or sort out: brain fog, food sensitivities, gut issues that weren't previously there, unexplained weight gain, and mood disorders. That sounds like it's ripped right out of these are menopause signs and symptoms. So you want to look at these, and the mystery may be that they're related to hormonal changes, but it could— could it be your coffee? But could it be that if you're in the midlife menopause change and drinking coffee, you know, now you— it doesn't matter which caused it, we still need to get to the bottom of solving it. So it's one reason that about 4 years ago I made a switch to matcha instead of coffee. And I had already, by the way, cleaned up my coffee act. So I was doing real whole beans and thinking I was doing a better thing than of course the canned chemicals, which I, which I was. But I've made another change to danger coffee this year. You've heard me talk about that. And there's another reason I've switched to danger coffee, by the way, and that's minerals. When a habit you already have, you can get an upgrade, you know, and first, no longer do you have gut issues, and, you know, that make you feel guilty about it, like, I'm causing my own problem, but it also adds minerals to your body, then it's double good in my book. Most of us, 70% of us, are deficient in minerals, and it depends on— I mean, we could be talking about magnesium, or we could be talking about selenium, vitamin D, there's plenty of proof that very high percentages of us are deficient. You can test for yourself your micronutrient sufficiency, and I would suggest that you do if you're feeling fatigued and you think, oh, I've got a healthy lifestyle. It's probably really a good time in your life to take a look at that. But Dave Asprey has taken the opportunity to make a habit we already enjoy, load it with minerals good for us while also removing the risk of Mold bad for us. So bottom line, you might be wondering, is coffee good or is it bad, right? So when the age-old question comes up, is it good or bad, comes up, the answer is it depends. What kind are you drinking? So I hope that made you just a little more curious about, do you know that what you're getting is not full of mold? I think it's important that you realize you've got to do a little homework, um, about it. And some of those just going to the store brand and going for, this is a cheaper one, it smells really good, right? Is probably not enough for most of us. So many things that we do daily, like exercise, stress, over-the-counter meds, prescription medications we may need, conditions, conditions or disease deplete our minerals. So yes, even exercise of the kind you should do. I'm not talking about extremes. They deplete through our sweat. Soil is depleted, and so are the plants then that grow on that soil and the animals that feed off the plants that are in that soil. So even with a healthy diet, we likely can't consume all the minerals that we need from food alone. So making the most of what you do consume is really important. Two of the compounds in danger coffee, so Dave Asprey is the founder of Danger Coffee, by the way. He's also familiar to you because of Bulletproof Coffee. He's a well-known biohacker I've talked about a little bit, and for some he's really out there, but in terms of this, I think he's done a really, really great thing. No matter what, if you're a coffee drinker, this makes total sense to you. I mean, I really feel like this has been a game changer for me. We're not talking like minerals he's added or magnesium, you know, or selenium or copper. He's got two that are probably lesser known, you've never heard about, but they actually fix the gut. And this is an important distinction, like what's going on? Are we hurting it or helping it? And I can tell you that I quit coffee and it wasn't really a bad decision. As soon as I started drinking matcha on the regular, my gut started feeling better. I was getting a lot, a lot more just feeling good, a lot less symptoms of Immediate urgency to go to the bathroom, those kinds of things. And I will stop there, but this is really, really important. So if you've listened to me for a while, you know that most mornings since probably 3 to 4 years ago, I switched to matcha and like almost entirely kicked coffee to the curb until now. And the reason was twofold: gut health and cortisol. My gut feels better drinking danger than it ever has on coffee of other kinds. I'm still a matcha fan, and yet I'll decide what to drink now based on how I feel and what I want in the morning. I've got choices. I'm gonna discuss though, for you, for us, the last downside of coffee that I think we all have to watch as females, particularly in midlife with changing hormones and changing stressors coming at us. If you've got adrenal fatigue and you're relying on coffee for the boost, giving it up can be one of the ways to accelerate your healing. Your cortisol levels rise, so too does your blood sugar. When you drink coffee, cortisol will rise when it's caffeinated anyway. The same could be true of matcha, but tends to be less or so. Now we're all doing that to some extent, right? Your cortisol levels rise and so does your blood sugar, and you may be in a position to tolerate it. You may be okay with that, but cortisol is used for energy for exercise. So if you do it strategically right before your exercise, you're not abusing it, it can work for you. I mean, it may, may or may not be positive. It may simply be that you're getting away with it, and it may be like me, it's you found a way to tolerate something that you enjoy and really don't want to give up. So Okay, right? Nothing negative, not necessarily positive, but in this case, maybe positive. So if you're coasting though till noon on coffee through a period of time that I find most women in our Community do well to break their fast and get in a high dose of protein where they can control their cortisol, control blood sugar levels, defeat that belly fat from winning the war on you. You could be inhibiting your thyroid also by coasting to noon on coffee, even if it's with MCT oil and you're trying to extend your fast. But if you're inhibiting your thyroid, the master metabolism gland, you know, you're probably shooting yourself in the foot. Because I know a lot of women will say, yes, I want to fast for the longevity benefits, but I think if we really get honest with ourselves, you don't have to tell me or anybody else, but we really also want the metabolism boost, don't we? We're doing it for the metabolism boost. We want to look and feel our best, which is potentially many of us, you know, our leanest. And so you got to look at, is it really working for you, or are you shooting yourself in the foot by elevating your cortisol? Some women can tolerate it during phases of your life. You potentially could, but what you have to assess each of this is whether it's working for you right now. One thing is for sure, if you drink coffee, do so consciously deciding on the type and the timing of your coffee and whether you do need to shut off, you know, after morning. Or my rule has always been, you know, 2 mugs and down. We don't drink coffee throughout the day. We don't, you know, take caffeine, whether it's matcha, even in the afternoon. But that may or may not be your rule yet. I'm gonna link in the show notes to Danger Coffee. I have a code for 10% off your first order if you want to try it. That is, of course, Flipping50. But the link to my page is flipping50.com/givedanger. I know if you're working out, you're walking, you're lifting, you're commuting, you can't remember that. So you can come— I will also put the link to my Peak tea. And the reason that is also important is has to do with those mycotoxins. It's the only green tea quadruple screened. And because again, this has become a marketing thing, there are a lot of matcha producers right now, and taste is one way to tell if it's good or it's not good. I will also link to a couple other goods for you that you may want to do as you're whether you're kicking off the year, you're listening later in the year, but coffee is one of those topics that yes, you can use it as an ergogenic aid, but not probably if you drink coffee all the time regularly. So there you have it, the downside of coffee. But realize it's not all down. You just have to decide, are you using it appropriately, wisely, and using some that is safe and optimal for you? I hope that was helpful. You can find this show notes at flipping50.com/downsideofcoffee. And don't forget, if you're not yet exercising this year, we have a 5-day Flip. Super easy to get started, super short videos. You get one a day, 5 days in a row, and not 2, just one. You can't catch up, you can't double dip. It's just one. No need to overachieve, but they're short, and I promise you, you can do them, and you do have time to fit in exercise. We'll put the link to that in the show notes too. What are you waiting for? Let's start flipping 50 today.