Carbs And Coffee Consumption
We know that caffeine has the stimulating effect, wakes us up and keeps us alert during times when we’d much rather take that afternoon nap. The physiological response to coffee and caffeine is a more stimulated nervous system.
This also results in increased heart rate, which causes greater blood flow. That flow can result in a greater output at work, being able to multi-task better. The extra energy is helpful when it comes to exercise, participating in a sporting event, or having to drive a long distance.
With the increased blood flow throughout the muscles the use of glucose as energy becomes higher and some have found that coffee can be a good supplement towards fat loss. A person may be able to work at a greater intensity or run for a longer period of time, which requires more glucose made from carbohydrates. The extra surge may also allow them to crank out a few more reps on their bicep curls.
This jump start that a person may feel and the extra energy that they may expend in doing different tasks can also lead to an increase in hunger. And when a person has burned those extra calories, worked a few hours longer without eating, it can result in feeling like your famished.
You may reach for anything, those desserts that your co-worker brought in, the candy bar our of the vending machine, whatever is within reach. You may end up eating too many carbohydrates, don’t use enough during the rest of the day and your body winds up converting those carbs into fat and packing them away.
There is also the stress resulting from coffee consumption. The increase in heart rate and blood flow can also cause the jittery and jumpy feelings that a person may experience. This can lead to increased stress levels and magnify stress to a degree that may seem unreasonable to others. But to the person with the increased blood pressure everything they are thinking and with their mind racing they are being completely rational.
The stress of a situation can result in the fight or flight response:
1. Diversion of the blood from less vital to more vital organs.
2. Increase in the heart rate to supply more blood quickly.
3. Increase in the blood pressure to supply blood efficiently.
4. Increase in the respiratory rate to get more oxygen from the atmosphere.
5. Breakdown of glycogen stores in liver and muscle to get more glucose.
6. Formation of more glucose from non carbohydrate substances.
When the body is in a state of stress, it will do what is necessary in order to survive. The functions within the body could potentially cause a person to create more glucose within their system, too much that whatever they don’t use ends up being stored as fat. So a person could continually experience stress when drinking coffee, set their body in motion to produce excess glucose, come down off of their caffeine high and the result would be excess fat in their body.
This stress can also lead a person to eat those comfort foods, which help them to feel as though things are not so bad. Those foods tend to be carbohydrates – cookies, chips, cakes, donuts, anything that will give an immediate “good” feeling. The result: too much sugar, too many carbs, your body can’t use it all and ends up storing it.
This bad ending is all the result of drinking too much coffee.
It sounds horrible, and we have to remember that caffeine is considered a psychoactive drug. It’s not regulated in any way. The best thing is to either know your limit, don’t drink any at all, or know that if you’ve had too much that you won’t be reaching for to donuts and bagels. Everyone is different as to how much they can tolerate.