Why Does Coffee Make Me Nauseous?
Being nauseous is one of the worst and most hated feeling, us, humans don’t want to feel especially if we’re always on-the-go. We don’t want this feeling to overpower our whole being so it is very important to figure out what causes such feeling and we don’t want it to control our lives. And do you know that your all-time favorite coffee is one of the culprits of this upsetting feeling.
As we all know that coffee contributes a lot of health benefits as it dubbed as a miracle beverage. It can help improves memory, decrease risk of heart diseases, dementia and diabetes. Unfortunately, drinking coffee sometimes cause discomfort stomach, nausea and other issues in the body. But drinking this miracle beverage, coffee, which causes nausea could be scientifically linked.
So, it is important to know the answer of this question: Why does coffee make me nauseous?
The most common links between drinking coffee and being nauseous is the withdrawal from coffee and GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). Your nausea is also related to something else aside from coffee. However, nausea is not considered as a symptom of a dietary deficiency. A combination of diet and coffee may contribute to how you feel.
As sometimes you could ask of why does coffee makes me nauseous? Scientifically, it has something to do with acid reflux. If you have a sensitive stomach it is recommended that you must try cold brew, or a type with lower level of caffeine.
Caffeine may cause nausea because it doesn’t only keep you awake but helps your digestive system moving so you might feeling sick. Nutritionist believed that coffee should be accompany with something healthier as coffee is an intense drink which is rich, bold and complex in flavor and chemical makeup. So, if you’re drinking coffee without eating anything substantial first either for breakfast or any meal, for sure your stomach will get in trouble. If you have a sensitive stomach better avoid any caffeinated stuff.
Your nausea is a symptom of your caffeine withdrawal, as quitting coffee after your body used to it can cause an unpleasant symptoms as your body adjust. You may take note of the questions below that you might want to ask yourself:
- Have you recently stopped drinking coffee?
- Have you noticed other symptoms like headaches, irritability or fatigue?
GERD is one of the possible causes of your nauseous feelings because coffee is considered as a trigger for GERD symptoms. In general, coffee stimulates body’s secretion of gastric acid, which causes problems to people with GERD symptoms. People with GERD are advised to avoid triggered foods. However, there are some studies showing that both coffee and GERD has no association at all.
On the other hand, while you making some adjustments on how to avoid such bad feeling, you may not have the guts yet to give up your coffee. You may consider another type of roast to maybe make a difference. Some scientists have studied the effect of different types of coffee (dark or medium roast) on gastric acid secretion. And it suggests that it may be the other ingredient of coffee that make a difference. There are compounds that can be found in coffee that irritates stomach lining, which are βN-alkanoyl-5-hydroxytryptamides (C5HTs) and chlorogenic acids (CGAs). Dark roast has lower amounts of C5HTs and CGAs and other ingredients can also explain why you react to coffee not to other beverage. And coffee has higher caffeine content than soda so it’s more impactful on your body.
Our central nervous system reacts to the stimulant within our body, there are some people who can metabolize caffeine faster at a faster rate while others can’t. We also need to address the unwanted symptoms because of coffee withdrawal such nausea, racing heart rate and restlessness. As after a certain amount of time your body is used to 2-3 cups of coffee a day and if you miss it on a regular basis your body is reacting. When there are over 500-600mg of caffeine consistently consumed per day it can cause nausea and other symptoms.
Caffeine tolerance varies on age, sex and size of the person. When someone is weighing 6 stone, he’s going to process differently with someone who is weighing 16 stone. It takes an average person with normal liver function of 5 hours to breakdown 50% of caffeine. So, if you are going to down caffeine like its water it’s not going to have the best effect on your system. It can take up to 6 hours after ingestion to be fully broken down.
Caffeine causes numerous neural circuit activation which causes pituitary gland to secret hormones that cause the adrenal glands to produce more adrenalin. So, it simply boosts adrenaline levels same as to the way stress works in our body. It also inhibits the hormone adenosine which facilitates sleep and dilates blood vessels for you to have a good oxygenation during sleep. It increases the production of dopamine in the brain which can be linked to dependency on this drug which is consumed daily by 90 % of all adults.
But what’s the best way to get rid of this feeling?
- Exercise. It’s best to exercise so you can release your adrenaline. Your body needs to be moving to be able to use your adrenaline up and metabolize caffeine.
- Eat bananas. Vitamins and minerals are said to increase potassium level and is recommended when feeling nauseous.
- Eat healthy snacks. Caffeine is an appetite depressant. Your body needs food but your mind doesn’t so a healthy snack will give your body with minerals and vitamins.
- Water. To keep you hydrated.
- Relax. It’s not going to help by panicking about anything negative.
- Breathing exercises. This will help lower your heart rate and put you more in relaxed position.
You may be consuming more caffeine, maybe you have had a coke or an energy drink. The recommended dose of daily caffeine is between 300-400mg which is equivalent to about 2-3 cups a day. If you feel nauseous or any discomfort, still it is best to talk to professional health care provider.