Coffee, Cortisol Levels and Stress

Anyone who knows me well also knows I’ve got a cup of coffee or tea (sometimes both) glued to my hand(s) at pretty much any hour of the day. Having my morning coffee has become more than just a dose of “wake up juice”. It’s a ritual that is comforting, soothing and stimulating. However, this psychological ritual also applies to having a cup of coffee again in the afternoon and maybe a couple glasses of black/green tea in the evening. In fact, I consume so much caffeine that I can literally drink a cup of coffee before bed and fall asleep fine. In addition, I’ve noticed that although I drink a cup of coffee around 1pm, expecting a kick in the energy department, often times I’m left feeling the exact same, sometimes even more tired than before. While my energy levels tank, my body and mind feel wired, almost like they’re in a high state of stress. Just before my face crashes into my desk, that little voice in my head asks, “What the hell, bro?”

All of this info above led me into some research on caffeine, time of day, and a little stress hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone, produced by the adrenal glands, that is made to increase blood pressure, spike blood sugar and prepare the body for “fight or flight” mode. Primally speaking, it was/is a very useful hormone in keeping our species alive and quite useful for the functional athlete in a high stress situation. Interestingly, our body naturally produces cortisol at its highest levels in the morning and lowest just after bed time.

While cortisol is a good thing during competition or battle, too much cortisol has negative side effects. First off, because it is a stress hormone, our bodies natural levels of immunity suffer when it comes into play. Also, high levels of cortisol over-stress the body, resulting in eventual slower recovery, adrenal fatigue, and burnout.

Below is a list of the effects of cortisol:

• Insulin resistance and belly fat
• Loss of collagen from skin (think lines on your face)
• Gastric secretion, which is why heart burn can be an issue while you’re stressed
• Loss of potassium
• Bone metabolism from lack of potassium and reduced calcium absorption in the intenstine
• Inhibits long term memory and cooperate with adrenaline to produce “memories of short term emotional events.

Factors that reduce cortisol:

• Magnesium supplementation, especially after exercise
• Omega 3’s – reduces mental stress, not just inflammation
• Music
• Massage
• Laughing
• Vitamin C
• Black Tea – (woo hoo) Actually black tea is said to repair the adrenal gland from a fatigued state of overproducing cortisol.

So what factors raise cortisol?

• Coffee – knew that was coming, more later…
• Sleep deprivation
• Over training/physical exertion
• Some contraceptive pills
• Severe trauma/stress
• Long commutes

Caffeine and cortisol secretion

Of all these factors, I was most interested in my favorite brew and why it may be “stressing me out”. Which led me to another article, linking caffeine to cortisol secretion. It’s a brilliant study, just what I was looking for. Accordingly, coffee increases cortisol secretion of people undergoing mental stress. However, cortisol levels are directly linked to the time of day caffeine is ingested…Ah ha!

Basically, the study found that caffeine ingested early in the morning (9am) has little to no effect on cortisol levels in adults whose system was already “conditioned” to the effects of caffeine. Meaning, if you drink coffee/tea already, cortisol was not elevated. If the adults were not regular caffeinated drinkers, then morning cortisol levels were raised as result. What I found interesting was the fact that a second cup of coffee, around 1pm, raised cortisol levels significantly for both the caffeine and non-caffeine drinkers. These levels stayed high throughout the afternoon in the early evening.

So what does this mean for the conscientious coffee drinker and athlete? For me, I’ll tailor coffee consumption to one cup in the morning and cut out my afternoon drink. I’ll also make an effort to decrease overall caffeine consumption and most likely cycle black tea and green tea in every couple days, and resort to drinking that in the late afternoon. I’ve realized that an extra coffee in the afternoon is effectively stressing my system to the point that my body goes into shut down mode. As an athlete and a busy father, the last thing I need is a self-induced “shut down mode”. I’ll also work on de-stressing during the day, whether its with music, massage, lifting heavy objects or karate chopping watermelons in my garage.