The Sprightly Spud

Stumbling through Manchester airport in a sleep deprived stupor, I passed a lady who gave me food for thought. Clad in comfortable, yet smart, business attire, and boasting a full face of immaculately dewy make-up, she glided through the terminal, iced matcha latte delicately nestled in her hand.

As much as I would love to carry this air of sophistication, and be able to start my day with such a healthy looking green concoction, I was instead decked out in my joggers and biggest hoodie. What’s more, I was clutching a travel mug of coffee like my life depended on it.

To my credit, however, it was decaf.

Why, at 4.30am, I had refrained from consuming our favourite morning stimulant, is a result of my latest endeavour to reduce caffeine consumption.

As a trained barista, and somewhat of a snob when it comes to the brown stuff, I have an appreciation for the dulcet tones of a good cup, yet with work shifts becoming earlier, and life feeling generally harder, I had noticed my intake hit a lifelong high, and I was no longer appreciating the gentle boost my first sip supplied. Consequently, I decided to hit pause.

Cold turkey felt like an (unnecessarily painful) step to far, but the new limit of one ‘proper’ coffee a day, and the remainder decaf, has me feeling a little more in tune with my energy, and grateful for that ‘first sip feeling’.

With many lives becoming busier by the day, with mornings starting earlier, dinner ticking gradually later, and the pressure to maximise workplace output gathering more momentum each minute, its not difficult to understand why we are seeking sources of chemical energy, but could our coffee habit be fuelling our sensations of burnout?

The Deprivation – Caffeination Cycle

We’ve all been there; when that creamy, latte shaped, treat on the tube to work becomes 6 cups of office pond water by 12pm, and an emergency afternoon slump saviour when the clock hits four. For some of us, the additional alertness may be gradual and inoffensive, but for more sensitive souls, the leap from half-asleep to jittering mess can occur in a matter of seconds.

In the UK, we hit an average of 2 cups of coffee a day, though for those with a hardcore habit, this figure could be much, much higher. I’m no scientist, doctor, or any kind of expert, but I doubt a daily cappuccino will kill you. The peril begins when the treat falls into the realm of addiction and we find ourselves unable to function without it.

As is the case with drugs, germs, and alcohol, the more caffeine we consume, the more tolerant our body becomes to it, and the more we need to feel the desired buzz. Consequently, PM trips to the Nespresso machine become increasingly frequent, as we struggle to crawl through the latter half of the workday. Studies have shown that taking on caffeine even as long as 6 hours before settling down to sleep, can reduce sleep time by an hour – so that 4pm mocha may mean your 10pm – 6am 8-hour cycle isn’t as optimal as you initially thought. Therefore, adding coffee to an already sleep-deprived day has a tendency to exacerbate the initial exhaustion, and leave you craving even more tomorrow.

Next is the impact on our anxiety. Coffee’s ability to inhibit GABA and adenosine, means these calming neurotransmitters cannot fulfil their serenity serving potential, hence the trembling hands and racing pulse. When combined with a lack of sleep, we have an obvious equation for exhaustion, and the drained, demotivated feeling we associate with burnout.

Intuitive Caffeination

Rolling out of bed to find our hands already pushing down the cafetière is somewhat of a ritual for countless individuals, but are we giving ourselves enough time to assess the situation, before hitting the go-go juice?

Guidelines on the ideal time gap between waking and taking your first shot vary between sources from around 30 to 90 minutes. Allowing the body time to wake up naturally gives you space to truly perceive how you feel – are you really knackered, or do you just need a few minutes to come round?

Floundering for your favourite mug within minutes of getting up can easily mask your true tiredness, leading to falling victim to the culture of constant grind which plagues modern lives, and potentially pushing too hard. For example, is today the day for heavy deadlifts, or would you benefit from a crossword on the couch instead? Overstretching yourself is a sure fire route to burnout, in my humble opinion, and our automatic quilt to caffeine routine could be impeding our ability to live in line with our intuition. In serious cases, it could be obscuring deeper concerns, such as metabolic issues or B12 and iron deficits (the latter of which even lists caffeine as a cause).

A Pre-Workout Weapon?

The maximum recommended caffeine intake for adults is approximately 400mg (the standard americano contains around 50-120mg, for reference). Gym junkies are often guilty of exceeding this guideline, prepping themselves to pound the iron with artificially sourced pre-workouts or energy drinks packing in upwards of 200mg in just a couple of sips.

Dilated pupils, twitches and skin tingles may be tolerable for some, but personally, I feel the endorphins hit better when I train on raw motivation.

Admittedly, I’m a fiend for cardio, so anything more than a one shot espresso can have my heart racing uncomfortably, bodybuilders may feel differently. Regardless, there’s something especially. satisfying in the knowledge that one has hit a PB, without the assistance of a supplement.

Despite this, research has demonstrated that caffeine can improve a 5km running time by up to 12 seconds, in addition to its impact on alertness, fatigue, and cognitive function, which may improve concentration throughout your session, leading to more progressive overload, and eventually boosting the gains.

On the flip side, hitting the bean after the gym could even aid recovery. Glycogen is replenished more rapidly when carbs and caffeine are ingested simultaneously after vigorous exercise, thanks to increasing levels of the ‘AMP kinase’ enzyme, which is already elevated post-workout. Therefore, though coffee accompaniments are commonly demonised, in this situation, a milky coffee with honey or sugar is basically health food.

In conclusion; caffeine in moderation may be a brilliant workout buddy. This said, it could be worth grabbing a water every now and then, and saving the maximum benefit for when you desperately need it.

Romanticising Your Coffee Moment

You’ve sat out your 90 minutes and trained on a stomach of porridge and electrolytes alone, now it’s time for that morning motivation. Whether it’s a post-run pistachio milk americano, or a cosy cup of filter with a dash of oat keeping you company at your desk, you deserve to make the most of this part of your day.

Additionally, slower sipping post breakfast, as a pose to a 6 am cortisol spike, will be much gentler on your hormones, and lessen the probability of hitting a slump later on in the day.

It seems that Gen Z, are flying the flag for this matter, functioning on 0.5 cups per day, compared to the 2.1 required by Gen X. The added benefit is that is might even be saving them money in the long run, with on, perfect brew squeezing the purse strings less than four, bang average ones.

Tips to Curtail Consumption

1. Jump on the decaf – its no crime to enjoy the taste of a coffee, latest figures show the market for decaffeinated blends has a projected worth of £23 billion by 2030, so you won’t be alone. What’s more, you may even see a pavlov’s dog style effect of an energy boost, sans stimulant.

2. Take on tea as your preferred tipple – whether its builders tea, or a turmeric infusion, any variety will contain fewer milligrams of caffeine than a typical coffee. Additionally, you’ll reap all the associated benefits of herbal teas, ranging from digestive health to stress relief.

3. Mushroom coffee? – marketed as a more healthful alternative to a standard cup of joe, mushrooms have been used as a coffee substitute since WWII Finland. By blending powdered medicinal mushrooms with ground coffee, brands are able to half the caffeine content, whilst providing the benefits of mushrooms, such as immune support.

In summary, the point at which your coffee habit become a problem is a matter of personal judgement. Craving the extra boost of your morning beverage is probably fine, but being reliant on six black americanos simply to function may be a sign it’s time to wean yourself off.