9 Negative Effects of Drinking Coffee on an Empty Stomach

A lot of people have a habit of drinking coffee in the morning before they start their day. Some people even drink coffee without consuming any other food. Many coffee drinkers do not know that drinking coffee without eating anything beforehand can cause some bad effects on their health. Here are the negative effects of having coffee on an empty stomach:

Increase in Stomach Acid

Stomach acid or gastric acid is important for the process of digesting food and to allow the body to absorb nutrient. Our body needs a certain level of stomach acid daily. Too much stomach acid will cause a problem, such as digestive problems, stomach ulcers, and hear burn. Drinking coffee without accompanied by any other food will higher the risk of having those kinds of stomach problems.

Even though you drink decaffeinate coffee, which is claimed to have less quantity of caffeine in it and contain antioxidant and nutrients, for some people it is still capable of increasing their stomach acid level. When the stomach acid level arises, it will make you feel nauseous, dizzy, and even vertigo. As a result, our body and stomach will not feel well for hours or even for days.

Stomachache

Still related to high level of gastric acid which mentioned previously, consuming coffee on an empty stomach will possibly make your stomach ache. Having stomach ache during the day is not a pleasant thing, because it will surely destruct you from doing your activity. If this happens, try to drink warm water to ease the pain and make you feel better.

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. Nutritional Disorder

A study in Japan, which is done at Yokohama City University School of Medicine, stated that coffee could be the substance that contributes on emptying the stomach. It is also believed that regular coffee and decaffeinate coffee have the same bad effect for the health.

It is believed that caffeine plays a role in speeding up the exertion process through kidneys. As a result, we tend to go to the bathroom to urinate more often than we normally should. Automatically, our body will not have enough time to absorb mineral substances, such as zinc, magnesium, calcium, and any other minerals.

Drinking coffee without having a meal first on regular basis will lower magnesium level in the body. The lack of magnesium in the body, although not directly, will potentially cause some health problems such as:

Tooth decay
Osteoporosis
Infertility
Chronic pain
Migraine
Chronic fatigue
Kidney illness
High blood pressure
Blood clots
Asthma
Heart disease

You might want to read: How to Relieve Chronic Tension Headaches

Disruption in Cortisol Hormone Production

Coffee that you drink in the morning on an empty stomach has possibility to disturb the production of cortisol in the body. Cortisol is a hormone which is also called as stress hormone (because the hormone will increase in order to endure our stress) that has critical role in the body. It is a hormone that wakes you up in the morning, and also makes us feel sleepy at night.

Most of us drink coffee first thing in the morning because we want to get rid of sleepiness and stay alert to start our daily activities. However, our cortisol level in the morning has already high, and caffeine in the coffee that we drink in the morning will disrupt our cortisol level. As the result, our body will be dependent on caffeine to stay awake and fresh. In the long run, there is a risk that our body will be immune to caffeine and eventually, it will bring no good for our health.

Get Nervous Easily

Believe it or not, drinking coffee in the morning without eating something beforehand will make you feel unnecessarily nervous or anxious. This condition happens because coffee is capable of disrupting serotonin level in the body, which is already low in the morning. Serotonin is a hormone that is in charge of activating the feeling of happiness and calmness that make our body relax.

Prone to Stress

Not only anxious, someone who keeps consuming coffee on an empty stomach is usually prone to stress. This condition has a link to the low level of serotonin and drinking caffeine will make it worse. Feeling nervous could be part of the stress as well. Thus, make sure you do not start your morning feeling stress or anxious.

Dehydration

Apparently, consuming coffee on an empty stomach is also capable of causing dehydration. The symptom will shows when the person keep going back and forth to the bathroom, and over time they will feel tired, languid, and even headache because the quantity of liquid in the body is decreasing. If this happens, drink a lot of mineral water and avoid doing activities that need too much of your energy.

Pounding Heart

Pounding heart can also be the impact of drinking coffee without eating anything beforehand on regular basis. Caffeine in the coffee is capable of eliciting our nervous system which will make our heart beats faster. This kind of condition will surely make you feel uncomfortable if it happens in the middle of daily activities.

Mood Swing

Mood swing is still related with low level of serotonin. The amount of acid and caffeine in coffee with consume every morning will disrupt the level of serotonin. The impact of low level serotonin not only will cause stress, nervousness, and anxiety, but also will make the person to feel cranky and get upset easily. Also read: How to Treat Anxiety with Aromatherapy

Those are some information about the negative effects of drinking coffee on an empty stomach that you must know. The study research and experts suggest us to eat something before we drink coffee in order to avoid any kinds of stomach problems and hormone imbalance. It is better to drink warm water right after you wake up, eat breakfast, and then you can drink your coffee. Eating healthy breakfast will also help you from not getting affected by any kind of digestive problems cause by drinking too much coffee.