will decaf coffee make you poop?
When it comes to your gut, you have more than just the essential tract under your control. Your endocrine system also has a significant role to play in maintaining gastrointestinal health and function.
In fact, it’s the second largest endocrine organ in the body, right after the hypothalamus. The endocrine system.
When we talk about decaffeinated coffee, it’s important to understand that there are two very distinct types of caffeine consumption: regular and decaf.
While regular coffee contains beans that have been left intact so as to release their natural caffeine content upon roasting, decaf is derived from bean processing where all of the caffeoligins – which give coffee its characteristic flavor – have been removed.
Therefore, when drinking decaf you are essentially consuming pure caffeine which can have both beneficial and detrimental effects on your health depending on how it’s consumed and for how long.
As such, reading this article should help you understand whether or why drinking decaf coffee may cause problems for some people in different scenarios.
What is caffeine?
Caffeine is a stimulant that occurs naturally in the leaves, seeds, and fruits of some plants. It’s used as a natural sweetener and to induce sleep in some people.
Caffeine has both beneficial and detrimental effects on your health depending on how it’s consumed and for how long.
As such, reading this article should help you understand whether or why drinking decaf coffee may cause problems for some people in different scenarios.
Decaf Coffee and Diet Caffeine
While diet caffeine is often considered to be the same as regular caffeine, it’s actually a bit different.
Diet caffeine is caffeine that has not been extracted from beans – meaning that it doesn’t have the same chemical makeup as regular coffee.
When diet caffeine is consumed, your body processes it very similarly to how it would process normal, caffeinated food and drinks – meaning that it increases blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar levels in all individuals.
Nutritionists often recommend limiting your diet caffeine intake so that you don’t consume more than 200 milligrams per day.
Is Decaf Coffee Bad for You?
Caffeine is a mild diuretic; meaning it can increase urination, which may lead to dehydration. In more extreme cases, this can result in serious complications such as dehydration, low blood pressure, and even seizures.
Drinking decaf coffee for an extended period of time could potentially cause severe health issues. In general, decaf coffee consumption has been associated with possible risks such as headaches and stomach problems.
There is also the potential for caffeine deficiency symptoms such as fatigue, drowsiness, irritability, or restlessness.
This can be especially problematic in the elderly who should be cautious when consuming this type of beverage and should strictly limit their intake to under 400mg per day.
Decaf and Non-decaf Coffee and Health Benefits
Decaf coffee has been proven to have a variety of health benefits. First, decaf coffee is a source of antioxidants that help protect cells from damage caused by free radicals.
In addition, it’s also been shown to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
However, these health benefits are only a few of many that can be derived from drinking decaf coffee.
The removal of caffeine also frees up other nutrients in beans like magnesium, which can then be absorbed more readily by the body than when caffeoligins are present.
In fact, studies show that decaffeinated coffee has higher levels of magnesium than its caffeinated counterpart.
This is particularly helpful for people who suffer from heartburn or sleep disorders as it may help relieve anxiety and tension associated with these conditions.
In contrast, non-decaf coffee has more caffeine per serving than decaf because the beans have not been processed at all.
This means that there is no significant loss in caffeine content and thus it still provides the same range of health benefits as regular coffee does.
Should You Drink Decaf Coffee?
Decaf coffee has been a popular drink for quite some time now.
The process of removing the caffeine from coffee beans does not remove all of the caffeine content in a dose, but only about 10 to 15 percent per cup.
This means that one cup of decaf contains around 10 to 15 mg of caffeine while a regular cup of coffee contains 160 mg.
The amount of caffeine found in decaf can be more than enough to keep you awake and alert if you drink it regularly. However, there are situations where drinking decaf may be problematic.
For instance, people who suffer from migraine headaches may have a negative reaction to the withdrawal symptoms that occur when they go without their usual daily dose of caffeine (this is because caffeine acts as a vasoconstrictor by narrowing blood vessels).
It is also important to note that consuming too many caffeoligins can lead to other health problems such as high blood pressure and irregular heart rhythms which are contraindicated for people with cardiovascular or respiratory-related conditions.
Finally, it’s important to remember that consuming too much caffeine over an extended period of time (more than 500 mg per day or 6 cups) can lead to severe symptoms such as nervousness, irritability, sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal problems, cardiac arrhythmia, muscle twitching, and increased urination.
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, a regular cup of coffee is going to be a healthier option for most people than drinking decaf.
The caffeine in regular coffee will not have any lasting effects on the gut as it is quickly absorbed and broken down.
It should also be noted that decaf consumption does not affect the endocrine system, which means that there are no risks associated with consuming decaffeinated coffee for those who do not suffer from hormonal problems.
Regular coffee is a healthier option for most people than drinking decaf because it has been minimally processed and doesn’t have any lasting effects on your endocrine system.
Some adverse effects of drinking decaf may arise when you drink too much of it over an extended period of time or if you consume too much caffeine overall.
Drinking two cups of decaf can still be healthy while a heavy dose could lead to temporary issues such as headaches, insomnia, fatigue, irritability, heart palpitations, and irregular heartbeat.
If you decide to drink this type of coffee regularly or consume more than one cup per day, you might want to consider using other methods to avoid these side effects in order to maintain good health long-term.
The bottom line: Decaffeinated coffee may have different effects depending on how it’s consumed and for how long.
In general, regular coffee is healthier than decaffeinated coffee and should be favored over this type of beverage by most individuals.
FAQs
What are the two types of caffeine consumption?
It depends on what type of coffee you are drinking, but typically, if coffee is decaffeinated, it contains less caffeine than if it is caffeinated.
If you drink decaffeinated coffee, you may experience withdrawal symptoms if you discontinue the regular use of caffeinated coffee.
Additionally, decaffeinated coffee beans tend to have a milder flavor than caffeinated beans.
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