Hi,

I just started LCing today (my new years resolution....or perhaps revolution? Hee hee) and while I'm pretty clear on everything else, I'm really resisting the idea of giving up my coffee. Just two cups in the AM, with cream......at least thats how much I drink now. I own an espresso machine and I used to have a 4-shot latte every morning before AND after school. I get violent headaches if I don't get some form of caffeine and neither drinking water nor taking pain killers will relieve it. My question is: will drinking my coffee impede greatly my fat-burning potential? For the record, I am 22, with no real genetic hinderances (I guess that's what you call it....basically my parents are far thinner than me!) and I've never gone on any major diet (besides a 6-month flirtation with vegetarianism a year ago). I guess i'll just have to wait and see, but i'd really appreciate some veteran advice on this!

Grace

Here is some great expert advice from Doreen, our super Administrator...


Caffeine is a YMMV thing (your mileage may vary). This subject comes up over and over and over again. I have personally scoured the medical literature, and can find no studies that show caffeine causing a rise in insulin. More recently, there has been suggestion that the study Atkins refers to in his book, was done in the late 80s/early 90s, using diet cola --- and that it was the citric acid in the cola that caused the insulin spike, not the caffeine. I checked the Atkinscenter.com website recently, and in the FAQs/ Food Issues ... it's suggested that caffeine be avoided during Induction, then may be added back during OWL as long as it doesn't interfere with ketosis and fat-loss.. .. the contradiction continues. The larger percentage of lowcarbers report that caffeine does not have a negative effect on their weight loss.

That being said, as you enter ketosis and your body gets rid of excess carbs in your system, you may find yourself more sensitive to caffeine's other effects ... trouble sleeping, irritable, etc ... so it might be wise to cut back. Diet cola might be a problem because of the citric and/or phosphoric acid. If things seem stuck or stalled, then the cola might be the first thing to suspect, and cut back or cut it out altogether.

Coffee is not carb-free unfortunately. One 6 oz cup (that's a dinky little styrofoam cup-size) has 0.8 carbs, according to the USDA. A 10 oz. mug has 1.3 carbs. Then you add up the packets of sweetener, if you use it ... anywhere from 0.5 to 1 whole carb per packet .... then cream, which is 0.4 to 0.6 grams per level Tbsp ... when you're following Induction, and only have 20 grams to play with, 5 or 6 coffees can add up pretty fast .

Cut and pasted by Karen

Thanks Karen. I had no idea that coffee had any carbs! I'll be sure to add that in to my daily count. THankfully, i've never like artifical sweeteners and my sweet tooth is negligable (its the starchy stuff that gets me) so i should be OK.

PS: I've heard and read some pretty nasty things about aspertame...its unfortunate that so many companies choose to use it in their food. Well, that's corporate America for you!

Hi Gracie-poo,

I found that for me, I have to get rid of the caffeine. It does affect the scales. The headaches go away after a couple of days of absolutely no caffeine but not much you can do but wait it out. I switched to caffeine free teas because I was getting tired of water and wanted something warm in the winter.

Good luck and happy New Year. Susan

Long ago (in my early 20's) I used to drink a lot of caffeine (in the form of Dr. Pepper). I learned the hard way. Caffeine is an addictive drug, and some chemical part of it physically stores in your brain, which contracts when suddenly emptied. I can't remember the detail on that but a web search will probably turn up something.

If you go 'cold turkey' off it you will definitely have headaches, and the more you are accustomed to having of it, the worse the headaches will be, not to mention the other symptoms from a body used to that drug-stimulant which suddenly has none.

There is no reason for anyone to give themselves such blinding headaches they can't function. "Taper off" the caffeine intake, not only by a daily reduction in overall amount, but by 'spacing out' the caffeine you drink over the day.

I had such a hard lesson from this that 15 years later, I don't allow myself caffeine more than two days in a row, so I can't adapt to having it. I had no idea that I'd developed such a 'drug addiction', and that was something I felt strongly about. It's worth getting past the addiction for a variety of reason, regardless of the carbs.

Once you can reduce your physiological need (meaning, you are not in TERRIBLE PAIN from not getting it), then you could more objectively plan for how much of your daily carbs you want to sacrifice to a cup of coffee. As long as you critically "need" the caffeine, you're likely to make the decision based on the addiction, where you'd happily give up a big % of your allowance just for the coffee.

In induction in particular, giving up carbs for coffee means giving up probably the only healthy vegetables you'd be able to eat... a sacrifice questionable for health.

Just thoughts.
Regards,
PJ

can i just post a ? on this site or do i have to reply to someone? I feel like such an idiot but i just dont get it.

Please help

As you get the hang of this WOL, you can start replying to the questions of others. Until you get the hang of it, ask questions. It's more satisfying when it works both ways. For each separate question, start a new thread so your question won't get lost and post the question in the appropriate place on the forum.

When you come to the board, use the view new post function at the top left to see what's happening on the forum.

Karen