Feel good, French style

There is a myth that French women stay skinny by drinking espressos and smoking cigarettes. Many magazines and “experts” tell you that caffeine, in the right amounts, helps you lose weight and maintain your energy.

I love a good cup of Early Grey or a (decaf) espresso after a meal. However, I’ve learned from most integrative health professionals, and witnessed on myself and my clients, that caffeine quickly makes you fat and tired!

To caffeinate, or not to caffeinate? Here are my tips for happy sipping.

1. Break the stress cycle.

Americans drink 400 million cups a day of coffee. Caffeine, also found in tea and sodas, is a powerful stimulant that jolts your central nervous system. That jolt may get you going in the morning, but it also stimulates the excretion of stress hormones, and decreases blood flow to the brain by as much as 30%. This negatively affects your memory and mental performance.

In our overstressed lives, does it make sense to add more fuel to the fire? Repeated use of caffeine ends up overworking your adrenal glands, which leads to more fatigue, compromises your immune system, and stimulates skin aging.

If your fatigue and headache subside after your morning coffee, it’s not the benefits of caffeine you’re experiencing; it’s the alleviation of your withdrawal symptoms. To begin calming your nerves and harnessing your real energy, take it nice and easy. Mix decaf and regular as you wean yourself off. Try herbal teas and coffee substitutes such as Pero or Teechino.

Your best source of viable energy? Foods and juices which are alive and speak your body’s language. These include fresh lemonade, summer peaches, raw carrots or green superfoods, for example.

2. A few secrets to staying slim

With the advent of Starbucks and coffee shops at every corner, our thirst for Joe has increased, but so have our waistlines. It’s not just the caramel Frappuccinos with extra whipped cream that are to blame, but caffeine itself.

First, coffee and soda (just like sugar and processed foods) create an acidic environment in your stomach. That acidity isn’t conducive to weight loss, and leads to all sorts of gastrointestinal problems and heartburn.

Second, caffeine plays yo-yo with blood sugar levels and often leads to carb cravings. These yo-yo’s are antithetical to staying slim.

Some tips:

- Lessen the yo-yo effect and impact on your stomach by drinking caffeinated beverages with food or at the end of your meal. Don’t caffeinate on an empty stomach.

- Ending a meal with a cappuccino or a latte isn’t smart. The combination of coffee and milk is difficult to digest. Your body ends up digesting your whole meal less efficiently. Poorly digested food gets turned into balls of toxins and fat.

Instead, copy Italian women who keep milky coffee to breakfast, and finish your meal with a real or decaf espresso. Or, end on a sweet note with a square of dark chocolate or a handful of cherries (keep these stashed in your bag).

- Don’t be fooled by green tea. Green tea has anti-oxidants and can in theory be brewed to have less caffeine, but it still has the health and weight downsides of caffeinated beverages.

3. Find the flavors you enjoy.

I feel much better in my body without caffeine, and avoid it as a general practice. However, another one of my important practices is to drink what I enjoy. That’s why I have a cup of real Early Grey a few times a week. The flavors are stronger and more subtle than the decaf version. Other days, I drink rooibos tea (a red tea which is naturally caffeine free) or other herbal teas such as chamomile, mint or ginger.

When it comes to food and drink, practice making educated and enjoyable choices. To caffeinate, or not to caffeinate? The difference is important, and all in good measure when you practice happy sipping.

Live épanoui*

Elisa

* in full bloom