the ritual of morning coffee

making your hurried morning routine just a little bit better

hi! i’ve spent the last few weeks mulling over how to start this thing and i decided to start this blog the same way i start my days - with coffee.

i love coffee. weekday or weekend, i will not leave the house without it (or a plan to go get it). i am not a morning person, but the thought of my silky smooth O.Henry’s pour over is enough to get me started each morning. i relish my morning routine; however, my present reality is really the result of years neglect.

during PA school i would sleep walk to the coffee maker every morning, flip a switch, get ready for school, pour my coffee to go and frantically run out the door. i often gave myself 10 minutes or less to get ready in the morning to maximize my sleep because i struggled falling asleep the night before (probably trying to study but then giving up and watching new girl). my mornings were chaotic, unpleasant and caused unnecessary stress on my hamster wheel mind at the ripe hour of 7 AM. my anxiety levels started high and remained that way all day as i hurtled through my clinical rotations. at the time, i was so focused on school, i told himself i didn’t have time to to enjoy a morning coffee ritual. but the reality is, as adults no one has time - you make time.

women in stem

let’s talk about cortisol. this mighty hormone is part of the hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal axis and is doved the “stress” hormone of the body. it often gets a bad rap because abnormally high cortisol levels are associated with things like “cushing’s syndrome” or “cortisol belly”. manifestations of excess cortisol often include: weight gain, generalized weakness, thyroid dysfunction, abdominal weight gain, “buffalo humps”, “moon faces”, increased blood pressure, psychiatric changes, and menstrual irregularities. BUT when cortisol is functioning properly, “[it] is secreted in a diurnal pattern, with a peak around the time of awakening, a declining course across the waking hours, and a nadir seen during the early phases of sleep”¹.

this hormone often has a negative connotation, but when properly regulated, cortisol increases to help you wake up and dips to help you sleep to provide a natural rhythm to your life. however, caffeine can also rise cortisol levels which is why when we drink too much we feel anxious, our hearts start to race and we feel ‘uneasy’. so what does this mean? am i about to tell you to ditch your morning coffee?

<3 coffee

absolutely not, i love coffee. when consumed in moderation, coffee has a lot of benefits including: enhanced cognitive function, cardiovascular health, strong antioxidants (which fights free radicals in your body that can lead to cancer) and much more. in this post, i simply want to offer some tools to alter your frantic morning coffee routine into a ritual that sets the tone to promote better stress regulation for the rest of your day.

one, two, three

step 1: water.

everyone is doing it these days. personally, my body cannot tolerate 3 L of water right when i wake up, BUT i make it a point to at least drink one glass of water before coffee. your body is almost 80% water and every cell in your body depends on it to function. coffee works as a diuretic which just means it can increase urine production and thus dehydrate you, making it that much more important to consume plenty of water with your morning coffee to stay hydrated.

step 2: protein.

i cannot stress this enough, we need protein. “the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is a modest 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or 0.36 grams per pound².” RDA for protein depends on body weight, height, age, sex, and activity so if you want to know the exact amount of protein to consume every day use this calculator! personally, i like to start my day with greek yogurt (about 16 grams of protein per serving) and collagen powder in my coffee. collagen powder is a post for another day, but the benefits are amazing and it dissolves effortlessly into a cup of coffee so you never taste a thing!

step 3: coffee.

if possible, try to wait at least one hour past waking to drink your coffee. this helps curb cortisol spikes and gives time for for water and protein to coat your stomach before introducing coffee which is very acidic and can aggravate your digestive track over time. i also started adding collagen powder to my coffee because as women, our bodies start producing less of it in our twenties and it has benefits for the your hair, skin, and nails (insert buzz, buzz, buzz). collagen powder is a post for another day, but the benefits are amazing and it dissolves effortlessly into a cup of coffee so you never taste a thing!

all this to say

water, protein, coffee! water, protein, coffee! water, protein, coffee!

but seriously, just adding a few mindful steps has transformed my morning routine into a morning ritual. instead of nearly spilling my coffee as i run out the door (probably on my way to being predictably late), i take pause each morning to do something good for myself. i drink the glass of water, i make food to nourish myself for the day and i slowly pour the kettle over my grounds to make a cup of coffee i am excited to drink. it doesn’t take an extra hour (although, if you have the time that sounds like a wonderful ritual), i just build in 15 minutes of extra time and the next 12 hours are noticeably better. truthfully, i would not say i have fully transitioned to a ‘morning person’ (getting up is still hard) BUT my mornings are better than they used to be, and that’s really the goal here. there is no medicine, supplement or routine that is going to change your life overnight, but there are habits we can build along the way to nurture good health in mind, body and spirit.

references:

1. Lovallo WR, Whitsett TL, al'Absi M, Sung BH, Vincent AS, Wilson MF. Caffeine stimulation of cortisol secretion across the waking hours in relation to caffeine intake levels. Psychosom Med. 2005 Sep-Oct;67(5):734-9. doi: 10.1097/01.psy.0000181270.20036.06. PMID: 16204431; PMCID: PMC2257922.

2. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-protein-do-you-need-every-day-201506188096

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16353426/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448184/

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/9-reasons-why-the-right-amount-of-coffee-is-good-for-you