Morning Cup of Caffeine
Each night I set my alarm for the indecent hour of 5:20 AM. The alarm goes off, I roll out of bed to get dressed and brush my teeth. I tip-toe downstairs, make my caffeine fix for the morning, sit down and breathe a sigh of relief if I don’t hear any little feet running down the stairs because they heard me.
I have three young kids which means the house is always loud. So, it became necessary for me to carve out quiet time to get in the right headspace to tackle the day. Caffeine became part of this ritual to get me up and moving to workout. It had become a ritual and routine for me that I looked forward to. I recently had to change this routine because I had to come to terms that as someone with an IBD, the caffeine was causing digestive upset and sending me to the bathroom too frequently. I still get up at an awful hour, I still sit in silence before working out, but without my favorite morning cup of energy…and I miss it.
So I started searching for alternatives that could give me my routine back minus the bathroom visits.
If you are like me and miss the ritual and are still lagging some mornings, here are some great options that also provide some healthy benefits. A couple of the options still contain caffeine but at far less amounts than coffee.
Black tea is an excellent option as an alternative for coffee or energy drinks. Black tea is not only a non-sweetened, less calorie drink, but it also provides several health benefits.
Like coffee, black tea contains polyphenols, which are micronutrients that naturally occur in plants. Polyphenols are powerful antioxidants that prevent or reverse damage in your cells. Damage to cells is linked to increased risk of many chronic diseases, so yay for polyphenols!
Polyphenols can:
help manage blood pressure levels
reduce and help control your blood sugar levels
improve immunity
promote good bacteria growth in your gut
and reduced chronic inflammation.
You can drink black tea as is or you can add flavor by making a chai latte, which is a milky drink made with black tea and mixed with spices. If you are avoiding dairy, swap milk for almond milk. The spices tend to be ginger, cinnamon cloves, cardamom and more.
Because green tea contains the same polyphenols as black tea, it also has the same health benefits listed above and more.
It has an anti-anxiety effect due to the amino acid L-theanine, which increases the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. It also increases dopamine and the production of alpha waves in the brain.
Some studies also show green tea might increase fat burning and boost metabolic rate.
Lemon Water is another great option for a routine. There is no caffeine but there are plenty of health benefits.
Lemon water aids in digestion because of the citric acid found in the lemon juice. It has been shown to boost gastric acid secretion, which helps break down and digest food. This is very important for people who already have a compromised gut where food is not breaking down completely and has crossed the gut barrier creating inflammation.
Lemons are a good source of vitamin c which plays a role in helping your body to synthesize collagen, absorb iron, and produce hormones.
One caution for lemon water is that the citric acid could erode tooth enamel over the long term. To reduce this, drink the lemon water through a straw and rinse your mouth out after.
My last option is not only going to keep you hydrated but also will provide you with the good bacteria IBD patients need in our guts. This is actually what I have done to replace my morning caffeine fix. I mix an electrolyte hydration mix with a high potency probiotic. I specifically use Ultima Replenisher for my hydration mix and Visbiome as my probiotic. I chose Ultima because it contains not only electrolytes but trace minerals, which are key to the functioning of our immune system. It is also what I consider a “clean” product because it is vegan, paleo friendly, keto friendly, gluten free, and zero sugars.
Visbiome is also a clinically tested probiotic. Why does this matter? A lot of probiotics can make claims on what they can do, but rarely there are actual clinical data that can be found. Visbiome contains 8 strains of live bacteria specifically to promote gut health. The amazing thing about Visbiome is that it has been geared specifically towards patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Ulcerative Colitis (UC), Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea (AAD), Pouchitis, and Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE).
I do not sell these, nor am I affiliated with these products. I just like to pass on products that I feel are beneficial!