Coffee and healthy eating

chrissy_1987
chrissy_1987 Posts: 56 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Up until the end of April, I was easily consuming 3ltrs of Pepsi Max each and every day. I quit cold turkey one day and soon realised (after 2 weeks of horrible withdrawal headaches) that I was headache free. Completely. Up until that point I would suffer daily headaches. I swapped my Pepsi for sugar free juice concentrate with water and now I can easily drink 3-4ltrs of that a day (not ideal I know but I don't really like the taste of water, and in my eyes, at least I'm now drinking water which I wasn't before) anyway, in recent months I've started drinking 3-4 cups of coffee (semi skimmed milk and 2 sweetener) throughout the day as well as the juice, and the last couple of days the headaches have returned. One part of my thinks they may be caffeine related but surely this little coffee doesn't compare to the amount of Pepsi I was drinking. Plus the headaches lately have felt different to the others so I'm thinking they could be stress headaches.

Does anyone have any advice/information regarding coffee drinking whilst on a healthy eating plan? I find having a cup of coffee curbs the hunger pangs and boredom eating (I am in no way replacing coffee for food BTW, I still eat 1600+ cals daily, but obviously my body wants more food than I need) I realise coffee suppresses appetite but is it a healthy way to go about it?

Any (positive) advice would be welcome :)

Replies

  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
    Up until the end of April, I was easily consuming 3ltrs of Pepsi Max each and every day. I quit cold turkey one day and soon realised (after 2 weeks of horrible withdrawal headaches) that I was headache free. Completely. Up until that point I would suffer daily headaches. I swapped my Pepsi for sugar free juice concentrate with water and now I can easily drink 3-4ltrs of that a day (not ideal I know but I don't really like the taste of water, and in my eyes, at least I'm now drinking water which I wasn't before) anyway, in recent months I've started drinking 3-4 cups of coffee (semi skimmed milk and 2 sweetener) throughout the day as well as the juice, and the last couple of days the headaches have returned. One part of my thinks they may be caffeine related but surely this little coffee doesn't compare to the amount of Pepsi I was drinking. Plus the headaches lately have felt different to the others so I'm thinking they could be stress headaches.

    Does anyone have any advice/information regarding coffee drinking whilst on a healthy eating plan? I find having a cup of coffee curbs the hunger pangs and boredom eating (I am in no way replacing coffee for food BTW, I still eat 1600+ cals daily, but obviously my body wants more food than I need) I realise coffee suppresses appetite but is it a healthy way to go about it?

    Any (positive) advice would be welcome :)

    Yes, you are either having caffeine withdrawal headaches, or headaches from too much caffeine. You are going to get a lot of conflicting responses from people in the "CHEMICALS" camp and people in the "calories in/calories out" camp.

    If you like coffee and it fits your goals, drink it. If you are drinking so much coffee that you have withdrawal headaches or possibly headaches that are brought on by too much caffeine, then cut back.

    In my opinion, there is nothing unhealthy about drinking coffee. I drink about 3-4 coffees a day. I keep my sweetener/cream to a minimum because I prefer eating calories to drinking them. "Healthy" when it comes to food is subjective. I think it's less healthy to restrict things because they're labeled "bad." It seems this behavior usually ends with secret binge sessions on taboo food & drink for a lot of people.
  • kimberlyblindsey
    kimberlyblindsey Posts: 266 Member
    I'd be a hypocrite if I said yes there was something wrong with drinking coffee to suppress appetite. It's definitely my go to particularly after dinner and I'm craving something sweet. A little iced coffee with cream and stevia does the trick and of all the vices in the world, I don't think coffee is terribly bad for you in moderation of course.
  • chrissy_1987
    chrissy_1987 Posts: 56 Member
    I have to agree with you regarding cutting out things I enjoy. I don't do it with foods, I enjoy the odd bit of chocolate in moderation, so coffee in moderation can't be a bad thing either. Thank you for the advice :)
  • mtruitt01
    mtruitt01 Posts: 370 Member
    I try not to be rigid, since that will not work for me long term--been there, done that and always with the strict rigidity--none of this, none of that, and I always gain it back and then some.
    I drink my coffee lately with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. A cup is 30 calories, and MOST IMPORTANT!!--I like it and it tastes good to me.
    If something doesn't taste good I am not going to eat it/drink it.
    That's my new, non-rigid rule!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    If caffeine is causing the headaches, then 3-4 cups of coffee a day is more than enough to be the problem. Some people just have a reaction to caffeine for whatever reason. You could stop for a few days, then try drinking one cup a day. If that goes okay for a while, add another cup, and so on. That way you can figure out what your tolerance is.
  • chrissy_1987
    chrissy_1987 Posts: 56 Member
    I reckon I have an intolerance to something, but I'm not exactly sure what. I've always thought perhaps dairy. I cut out the coffee for one day and I still got a headache, but maybe it wasn't a long enough break. Might try decaff coffee, see if that makes a difference :)
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Up until the end of April, I was easily consuming 3ltrs of Pepsi Max each and every day. I quit cold turkey one day and soon realised (after 2 weeks of horrible withdrawal headaches) that I was headache free. Completely. Up until that point I would suffer daily headaches. I swapped my Pepsi for sugar free juice concentrate with water and now I can easily drink 3-4ltrs of that a day (not ideal I know but I don't really like the taste of water, and in my eyes, at least I'm now drinking water which I wasn't before) anyway, in recent months I've started drinking 3-4 cups of coffee (semi skimmed milk and 2 sweetener) throughout the day as well as the juice, and the last couple of days the headaches have returned. One part of my thinks they may be caffeine related but surely this little coffee doesn't compare to the amount of Pepsi I was drinking. Plus the headaches lately have felt different to the others so I'm thinking they could be stress headaches.

    Does anyone have any advice/information regarding coffee drinking whilst on a healthy eating plan? I find having a cup of coffee curbs the hunger pangs and boredom eating (I am in no way replacing coffee for food BTW, I still eat 1600+ cals daily, but obviously my body wants more food than I need) I realise coffee suppresses appetite but is it a healthy way to go about it?

    Any (positive) advice would be welcome :)

    Yes, you are either having caffeine withdrawal headaches, or headaches from too much caffeine. You are going to get a lot of conflicting responses from people in the "CHEMICALS" camp and people in the "calories in/calories out" camp.

    If you like coffee and it fits your goals, drink it. If you are drinking so much coffee that you have withdrawal headaches or possibly headaches that are brought on by too much caffeine, then cut back.

    In my opinion, there is nothing unhealthy about drinking coffee. I drink about 3-4 coffees a day. I keep my sweetener/cream to a minimum because I prefer eating calories to drinking them. "Healthy" when it comes to food is subjective. I think it's less healthy to restrict things because they're labeled "bad." It seems this behavior usually ends with secret binge sessions on taboo food & drink for a lot of people.

    this is great advice.

    I'm a big fan of coffee- multiple cups- and no I don't function really well without it- yes I'll get caffeine headaches- but I'm okay with it- I know it's a "vice" and I should drink less- but if that's my biggest issues- I'm doing okay.

    Keep the extra added junk to a min and you should be fine fitting it in calorie wise.

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