Dangers of Caffeine Addiction

"Everything is poison, there is poison in everything. Only the dose makes a thing not a poison"- Paracelsus 

Ok, so maybe you are reading this blog because you yourself have a Coffee, or caffeine addiction/habit. Maybe there is some part of you that already knows how bad caffeine is for your body, but because you have such an emotional connection with your daily cup of coffee (or 6), you have ignored the deeper messages coming from within. Well if you stick with me for the rest of this blog, I may very well convince you to quit cold turkey tomorrow. If you don't quit cold turkey, maybe this blog will be an inspiration to plan out a "weaning off" plan, in order to regain your own natural energy levels. In any case, if we want health and harmony within our bodies, and minds, we HAVE to get off the caffeine roller-coaster.


The following exerpt is taken from http://www.naturalnews.com/012352_caffeine_coffee.html

"When you consume caffeine, the drug begins its effects by initiating uncontrolled neuron firing in your brain, according to Stephen Cherniske in his book, Caffeine Blues. This excess neuron activity triggers your pituitary gland to secrete a hormone that tells your adrenal glands to produce Adrenalin.

Adrenaline is what gives athletes that winning burst of energy and Good Samaritans the ability to rescue people by lifting cars. Adrenalin is also the source of our "fight-or-flight" response, which enabled our prehistoric ancestors to escape from saber-toothed tigers and other predators. By stimulating your adrenal glands to produce Adrenalin, caffeine puts your body in this "fight-or-flight" state, which is useless while you're just sitting at your desk. When this adrenal high wears off later, you feel the drop in terms of fatigue, irritability, headache or confusion. At this point, you may reach for another "hit" of caffeine, followed by another, and another and maybe even one more. If you constantly keep your body on a caffeine high, you're constantly keeping your body in "flight-or-flight" mode.

Cherniske explains your body's "perspective" of this constant state: "Imagine you lived in a country that was always under threat of attack. No matter where you went, there was a perpetual state of alert. Not only that, but your defenses were constantly being depleted and weakened. Does that sound stressful? Caffeine produces the same effect on your body, like fighting a war on multiple fronts at the same time." Cherniske calls your body's constant state of alert "caffeinism," which is characterized by fatigue, anxiety, mood swings, sleep disturbance, irritability and depression.

After prolonged "caffeinism," your body enters a state of adrenal exhaustion. Your caffeine consumption has simply pushed your adrenal glands so much that they've burned out. Ralph T. Golan, ND, describes this unfortunate state in his book, Herbal Defense: "Caffeine forces your glands to secrete when they don't have much left to give, and they have to keep digging deeper and deeper, making you more and more tired over time. And over the years, it takes more and more coffee to get the same result. Some people reach the point of drinking half a dozen or more cups of coffee to get the same result and it's barely keeping them awake. That's severe adrenal depletion."

In other words, caffeine affects your body just like any drug. You start taking it slowly, but as your body develops a tolerance to it, you need more and more to feel the same effects. Eventually, your body reaches a point where it can't be without it; otherwise, you will start to experience withdrawal symptoms."

There is a book out there in the world called "Caffeine Blues: Wake Up to the Hidden Dangers of America's #1 Drug": by Stephen Cherniske.  If this blog doesn't convince you to quit caffeine, maybe reading through his whole book will.          buy book on amazon

Here are some key points taken from the book Caffeine Blues:

• If you drink in-organic coffee, you are pretty much just drinking a cup full of chemicals, coffee is one of the most heavily sprayed crops on Earth.
• Caffeine causes blood sugar swings
• Caffeine increases blood sugar levels and hormone levels
• Sleep disturbance/fatigue can be caused by caffeine
• Impairs children’s growth
• Tiredness
• Loss of B-Vitamins
• Menopausal Hot Flashes and their intensity can be linked to caffeine consumption
• Raises the risk of osteoporosis because it causes the body to lose calcium
• Causes a marked constriction in veins, limiting oxygen and nutrients to vital organs/tissues
• Methyluric acid is one of the breakdown products of caffeine and this can add to the Uric Acid burden of the body, leading to kidney disease and other issues
• Inflammation
• Exhausts the Adrenal Glands…. Which then causes ALL sorts of problems from chronic fatigue, to autoimmune diseases…
• Impairs immunity and also accelerates aging
• Inhibits DNA repairs
• Coffee contributes to ulcer formation because of it’s harsh acids
• Coffee interferes with the digestion of proteins
• Caffeine along with (fake fats, hydrogenated oils, and refined sugars) is totally foreign to the digestive tract, and thus causes a variety of issues
• Coffee increases risk of heart attack
• Caffeine is linked to depression
• Caffeine lowers the stress threshold of pretty much everyone

AND the list literally goes on and on and on…

“Let's face it, remaining healthy and strong throughout life is a battle. Caffeine is the Trojan Horse. It looks like a gift but instead delivers adrenal stress, low blood sugar, mood and energy swings, fatigue, depression, malnutrition, and disturbed sleep."(p. 94 Caffeine Blues)

Through other sources we see that caffeine also:

* Increases breast tissue cysts likelihood

*could cause incontinence

* can cause insomnia if taken too close to bed

* can cause indigestion

*Caffeine can be linked to miscarriage

* causes more forceful heart contractions

* can lead to increased anxiety and depression

* increases the amount of sugary beverages consumed

Taken from: http://www.caffeineinformer.com/harmful-effects-of-caffeine

Like I quoted earlier in this blog, "only the dose makes a thing not a poison". If we were to enjoy Coffee or any heavily caffeinated drink in moderation or on the rare occasion, it won't wreck the body nearly as hard as if we were to consume it every day. In fact there are definitely POSITIVES in drinking caffeine. One of my personal favorite uses of Coffee is as an enema. Some of the benefits of allowing warm organic coffee to flow up your ass are: flushing yeasts, parasites, heavy metals and bacteria from the gut, removing toxins from the liver by stimulating flow of bile, and removing free-radicals from the blood stream, among other health inducing benefits. So like anything, too much of anything is not a good thing.

I recommend just taking a moment to revisit your addiction to caffeine. Check in with your body. Can you feel all of the slight or not so slight messages from your body letting you know you have crossed the line with your intake of caffeine? Beware of the mental justifications that will want to come up to assure you that "everything is fine". The emotional/psychological dependency on coffee may almost be stronger than our physical dependencies.... Coffee and caffeine are such a normal and accepted part of our culture, we hardly think twice about it. If you find yourself on this crazy roller-coaster of caffeine dependency and you wish to get off, here are a few links I suggest researching to help your transition to be as smooth as possible.

http://www.caffeineinformer.com/my-caffeine-detox

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9165/how-to-quit-caffeine-in-one-week-painlessly.html

https://healthyeater.com/quit-caffeine-coffee

http://www.prevention.com/health/quit-caffeine


Happy journey!! Let me know what you decide to do, or where you are at with your caffeine relationship!

Releasing Trauma through Shaking

I have recently discovered an amazing resource, that I am sure one day I will be trained in as well:) It is called TRE; short for Trauma Releasing Exercises. This is a technique that is designed to induce fatigue in the body through controlled exercises to elicit a natural tremor response from deep inside the nervous system. Once this tremor response kicks in, a person will experience various levels of shaking intensity. This shaking happens from alone, the conscious mind has nothing to do with it, (people can even carry on conversations while letting this process unfold).

This shaking response literally starts to unravel deeply buried stress and trauma stored in our tissues.  When we look to nature to start to understand our human bodies a bit better, we see that this shaking response happens in the wild. For example, in the wild, say a lion chases a gazelle, and the gazelle freezes (so much so the lion thinks it is dead). The lion runs off for a second to get his lion buddies to help with the feast, meanwhile the gazelle hops up suddenly and starts running away. The gazelle then shakes instinctively to release all of that pent up sympathetic nervous system energy (trauma-energy).

In humans we also have this fight, flight, or freeze response.  We are wired naturally to react in stressful situations- whether we are in a life or death situation like a car accident, or we get yelled at from our boss- our body responds in a similar manner. The sympathetic nervous system kicks in, and our hearts beat faster- muscles tense up- pupils constrict, and breathing gets tense. Because we have removed our species from the natural, primitive world (at least those of us in the West), the types of "danger" and "stress" we perceive has drastically changed. It used to be that every once in a while we would be on "high-alert" for that big animal predator, fight or run, then let the danger pass, shake it off, return to normalcy. Now-a-days, that predator never necessarily leaves. We can experience stress while driving, having an argument, hearing the kids screaming, hearing sirens, having a bad day, etc... and more often then not our sympathetic nervous system never gets a chance to shut off.  Our inherent stress-response system designed to activate for short periods of time, is now on constant over-drive. It is no wonder with most of us living extremely fast-paced, stressful, high intensity, highly stimulating life-styles that our bodies are screaming out. Long-term effects of constant stress have been linked to diabetes, obesity, depression, head-aches, infertility, lowered immune system, loss of sex-drive, and anxiety (among many other symptoms).

The good news is that the body already (just like the gazelle) has a built in stress-relief device, these are the neurogenic tremors that occur deep within the body in response to an extremely stressful situation. Most of us ( because "it is not socially acceptable") have turned off our body's natural stress-relieving mechanism and instead suffer from the consequences. Through learning Trauma Releasing Exercises, one has simple and effective tools to help the body naturally unwind stress and tension built up from the day (or from serious traumatic incidents).

The other day after watching a series of TRE videos, observing other people shaking, I ended up lying down with my legs up 90 degrees at the foot of the bed. I could start to feel a gentle tremor coming from my cervical spine, I allowed this tremor to grow on its own accord, and next thing you know my body was naturally unwinding and shaking totally on its own! I was amazed, this was the first time this had actually happened to me. Funny enough, earlier that day I had stated to my freeance' how I wanted to experience this particular form of release because I knew about it and wanted to know what it felt like. ( Ask and you shall receive :) That evening I allowed my body to fully unwind, move, twitch, shake, and twist into odd shapes. It felt so good and natural. I am definitely very curious about the long term effects of practicing TRE regularly, as I know it has helped many, many, many people recover from PTSD, trauma, and stress of all sorts.

The incredible importance of this technique will probably be discovered in years to come, when as a society we learn to take care of these bodies of ours. But in the mean time, just know that if you feel a natural shaking response coming on in response to a stressful or traumatic situation- LET IT HAPPEN... let it be. The body inherently knows how to take care of itself.

(I can just see this easy method being employed by all the veterans, rape victims, and other groups of highly traumatized individuals).

 When our bodies function optimally, we are able to fully live the life we were born to live. We feel healthy, strong, and rooted in our divine purpose. When we each live up to our fullest potential, the world becomes a better place- body by body, mind by mind, and healthy action by action.

7 Things You Can Do to Help Your Chronic Tiredness

It is shocking to discover just how many people in America suffer from sluggishness and low-energy. Without energy, it is almost impossible to feel motivated to want to do much of anything. Without energy life pretty much sucks, and it takes every ounce of effort one may have in order to just get through each day.

Now please understand that the culprit/s of why you may be experiencing low-energy are so vast, could come from so many different sources, and could also all be stacked on one another. Getting to the real reason why YOU may be feeling so tired and sluggish can only come from much research on your end or through working with a wellness practitioner or coach. For the purpose of this article though, I would love to address several key areas that are all too commonly overlooked for most Americans.

The following are some great first steps to take if you are dealing with low energy levels. Like I mentioned before, the symptoms of “low-energy” can be the tip of the iceberg, and could be telling you that there is a more serious issue brewing underneath. Listen to the messages your body is sending you and take action right away.

# 1: RE-VAMP YOUR Diet!!!

Food is medicine. Our bodies are constantly creating new cells, that in turn run all of our precious organs. The cells that our bodies create need useable nutrition from the food that we put into our mouths each day. Most Americans really haven’t made the connection between food and health, and somehow assume that our bodies are like an awesome machine that would just keep working as long as it got crude oil. Nothing could be further from the truth. Well, actually it is always surprising to me just how long people do end up living on the standard american diet, while maybe not  a life lived in utmost health, it is still a life lived. But the point here is, our bodies depend on the food and water that we consume in order for all of its processes to continue to run smoothly. When one eats “empty calories”; processed food devoid of pretty much all essential nutrition, and drinks sodas (further demineralizes your body), where the heck is our body going to get the ESSENTIAL vitamins and minerals that it needs to run properly? All we need to remember is this: Food is Medicine. When we start treating our food as medicine, you would be surprised as to how little you will have to spend on actual “medicine:. The body is the most amazing creation. The body KNOWS how to heal itself, and is constantly striving to find homeostasis (balance). When given the right nutrition, water, and movement, you would be surprised to see just how much energy is gained back.

Now what is proper nutrition? Every BODY is unique in how it functions and what it needs. There is no ONE right diet for everyone on Earth. The best “generic” advice I can give though, is to ALWAYS stick to an organic Whole Food Diet. This means; cook meals at home with whole grains, legumes, grass-fed animal proteins, fruits, organic dairy (ideally raw, unpasteurized, unhomogenized), and sprouted nuts and seeds. Some people find that their body functions better with no dairy, or no animal products. Some people find that they can not tolerate wheat, or many other grains. Some people have reactions to night-shade vegetables and fruits, while some people are totally fine eating anything from the whole-food category.

Aside from sticking to a diet full of WHOLE foods, it is important to introduce friendly bacteria back into your gut. You can do this by eating raw, live fermented foods such as sauerkraut, fermented carrots, kombucha, yogurts etc. The gut is the second “brain” in the body. The gut microbiology play an important role in the forming of the Enteric Nervous System (ENS), a complex system of over 100 million nerves. The ENS is intrinsically connected with your brain through neural and endocrine pathways and the two are constantly in communication, making it seem as if there is only one brain and not two. As you can guess, the health of the gut is invariably connected to your mental health, and cognitive function.

2. Start to supplement your diet with Magnesium

We are pretty much ALL Magnesium deficient, due to the monocrop food grown in soil with a severe lack of minerals. Not to mention those Americans who drink soda and coffee, who are with every sip, stripping magnesium out of their bodies. Magnesium is SUCH an important mineral for the vital processing of over 300 enzyme systems that regulate diverse biochemical reactions in your body including; protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control, and blood pressure regulation. Magnesium is a major player in energy production, helps relax the nervous system, helps muscles relax and grow stronger, helps fix calcium properly and creates healthier bones, hydrates, alkalizes the body’s PH, improves digestion, and much more.

Click here to buy Ionic Trace Magnesium

It is important to take a magnesium supplement that is actually utilizable by the body.  Most magnesium supplements come in pill form and have to pass through the stomach and intestines before a mere %15 of its magnesium content can be used by the blood stream. A much more bioavailable form of magnesium is “Ionic-Trace”, or “Angstrom-Size” magnesium. This comes as a liquid, and the particle size of magnesium is so super tiny in this form, that the body absorbs this angstrom size magnesium right away through the bloodstream.

3. Check your relationship with Sugar

Sugar addiction is pretty much normal in our modern day American society. Most processed foods have sugar added to it. Sugar can be hidden in labels under various “disguise” names. The most dangerous one to stay away from is “high fructose corn syrup”, especially with the sickly rise of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) in our world today, corn being one of the main genetically modified crops.

When we are addicted to sugar, we are dependent on the continual high that the sugar gives us, serving as a non-sustainable energy boost. Ultimately this roller coaster of riding the blood sugar wave is very detrimental to your health and will result in major energy level crashes in the long run. Another important thing to mention here is that sugar feeds a yeast called Candida Albicans. When our bodies are healthy and in balance, there is a natural balance of the Candida yeast present in our system. Because the standard american diet consists of so many processed foods, white flours (convert to sugars), and sugars- the Candida balance in our guts can be easily thrown off by the overload of sugar into our system. Add a bit of antibiotic medicine for that last infection you had, and boom, you have a perfect recipe for Candida overgrowth. When Candida gets out of hand, you will start to experience various symptoms, one of them being fatigue, sluggishness, and low energy. So experiment with cutting out processed sugar from your diet and see how you feel.  

4. Drink LOTS of Clean Water

Great rule of thumb is to drink at least half of your body weight in ounces every day. If I weigh 120 lbs, I would drink 60 ounces of water AT least every day. More importantly though is to assess the quality of water you are drinking. Never drink tap water unless for some reason your tap water is sourced from a spring and is untreated.

The best source of water you can get is straight from a natural mountain spring. Now most of us don’t have that luxury to bottle our own water from a beautiful mountain spring, but we can buy spring water and have it delivered to our door. There is also a great website called www.findaspring.com where you can locate the nearest natural spring near you.

We want spring water because it is still alive with naturally occurring minerals and has been structured by the earth herself, to be best utilized by our bodies. If you can’t get spring water I would suggest buying a great home water purification system.

Why is it important to drink enough water? Our bodies are roughly %70 water. Every single process that goes on in our bodies depend on water. It is through having adequate water intake, that our body is able to consistently flush out toxins from our system. A buildup of toxins in our system can lead to loss of energy and sluggishness.

5. Avoid Caffeine

Caffeine wrecks havoic on the body. I will list a few things that caffeine causes, and/or is linked to:

-increased loss of B-vitamins (through urine)

-contributes to irritibilty, anger, headaches, nervousness

-increases calcium loss

-short term mood elevation- but rebounds to depression

-causes sleepiness, tiredness, and feeling disorganized

-constricts veins- causes limited supply of oxygen and vital nutrients to tissues/cells

-burns out adrenal glands- and if untreated can lead to an autoimmune disease

-mood disorders

-inflammation

-been shown to inhibit DNA repairs

-linked to GastroIntestinal problems like IBS, heartburn, bloating, colitis, food allergies…

-coffee interferes with the digestion of protein

-caffeine lowers the stress threshold in nearly everyone

As you can see with this fraction of a list, I have already covered many reasons why caffeine should be eliminated. While this may seem like a daunting task, once the body has gone through coffee/ or caffeine withdrawals, and has gotten over the hump, you will slowly start to regulate your own energy levels. Over time, you will see life is actually much better on the other side of the fence where caffeine doesn’t rule the world. Having low-energy could very well be caused by adrenal exhaustion through the use of your daily cup of coffee or 5.

6. Get enough sleep-

Americans have had a weird relationship to sleep for the last half century. Many believing that the key to “success” is to work more, sleep less, because as they say “ I can sleep when I am dead”. Well, how about if you don’t sleep, you will end up dead right quick buddy. :) This may seem obvious but if you are feeling constantly drained- check your relationship and quality of sleep in your life. Are you getting less than 7-8 hours consistently a night? Is your sleep deep and solid, or light and easily disturbed? Do you spend the last waking moment before sleep taking care of work, or staring into a screen? If so, it may be time for a sleep makeover. Make a “winding down ritual” for yourself every evening; make sure to turn off all electronics in your bedroom, drink a soothing calming tea before bed, drop some lavender essential oil on your feet, and/or try meditating for 10 minutes before you hit the pillow. Sleep is when the body regenerates itself, where the day’s events are processed, and where energy is restored. If you are constantly running around busy as a busy in your daily life, and you live on limited sleep, chances are you are doomed to a life of sluggishness, and less than ideal energy levels. Make sleep a priority for yourself, you deserve at least 7-8 hours of good sleep a night.

7. Check your relationship to stress

Stress kills. Literally. Stress sends our cortisol levels through the roof as well as keeps our nervous system in fight or flight mode (sympathetic nervous system). Cortisol wears out our adrenal glands over time- and will make it that your mojo up and left.

In a nutshell if you want more energy- take a look at your life and see what areas could use some improvement as far as stress goes. Address what you can, then take it upon yourself to incorporate as many relaxation practices as you can throughout your days/week in order to help counter the raging stress hormones that likely flood your body.

I could literally keep writing about all of the different causes for having “low energy levels” because the causes are so vast and inclusive. But for the purpose of keeping this blog manageable, lets just call it quits for now :)

As always, in radiant health, and longevity,

Norianna