Coffee is the first thought on many of our minds in the morning. However, drinking coffee can have its downsides. While it does give you extra energy, it can also elevate your anxiety levels. If you suffer from anxiety or are going through a particularly stressful point in your life, caffeine may make your symptoms worse.
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Anxiety is a complicated phenomenon that can look different for everyone, but it can most simply be described as the feeling of being nervous and on edge. While feeling nervous from time to time is totally normal, anxiety can cause physical sensations and phenomena like muscle tension, irregular breathing and heartbeat, digestive dysfunction, fatigue, and restlessness. It can be incredibly debilitating, and can affect all facets of your life. But how exactly does it affect your anxiety?
“When caffeine enters the system, it creates a state of alertness (what we usually want) in the body. If you can clear the caffeine efficiently it gives you a boost and then leaves the system. Sensitive people might not be able to clear the caffeine efficiently and in a timely manner.” Says Pamela Barton, R.H.N., NNCP, founder of Butterfly Nutrition. “That can be due to liver congestion, lacking enzymes, or a genetic disposition. If the caffeine doesn’t clear, people can get anxious as the body is launching a cascade of hormones to prepare the body for fight or flight. This results in anxiety, fidgeting and nervousness.”
Besides this, caffeine can also disrupt your sleep, which can cause a vicious cycle when it comes to your anxiety. According to The Sleep Foundation, people that suffer from anxiety are more likely to have higher sleep reactivity. This means that they have a higher chance of struggling with disrupted sleep patterns, and in some cases insomnia. If you’ve ever suffered from anxiety, you’ve probably spent at least a night or two lying in bed, ruminating over stressful thoughts. When you suffer from anxiety you’re already predisposed to tossing and turning and difficulty sleeping, which is why any external factors that disrupt your sleep will just add gasoline to the fire. For this reason, coffee’s energizing effects will only be elevated for you, and it could make your sleep quality even worse.
If you suffer from anxiety and poor sleep is one of your symptoms, you should consider swapping out your daily cup of coffee for something else. You may think you need it for energy, but there are other options. “We often think that we need an energy boost with stimulants, when all we experience is dehydration. That can be solved by drinking water. My tip is to drink water first (a glass or two) and see if you still need a boost.” Barton explains. If you really need something stronger with caffeine, try green tea for a jittery free pick me up. “Even though it contains teine (like caffeine), it does not seem to elevate the hormonal players for anxiety as much as caffeine does. Green tea also has many other beneficial properties, like strengthening the immune system. It’s also anti-inflammatory and has cancer fighting properties.” Anxiety can be devastating and frustrating at times, and while there’s no one size fits all solution when it comes to treatment, there are ways you can tweak your lifestyle to reduce stress. Cutting back on caffeine is one thing that may help reduce your symptoms.
