21 May A Worthwhile Sacrifice
In my previous post I talked about how my sleep pattern changed dramatically during perimenopause. This common and often agonising symptom is caused by our bodies adjusting to the gradual decline in progesterone levels.⠀
I also said that I had made one simple change to my daily routine and instantly got my sleep back, well that change was coffee, I know! “NOT COFFEE!” I hear you collectively cry, but stick with me, it wasn’t an easy decision.⠀
I would have one coffee a day, it was my daily treat. One really good quality, strong black, coffee shop coffee, anytime between 0900 and 1030, but no later than that. ⠀
I have been suffering from a skin condition (more on that to come) and in a desperate attempt to clear it up I went on a mini detox to see if it was possibly a gut/digestive issue. I was desperate to get to the root cause of the skin condition, so grudgingly I cut out my much-loved caffeine fix.⠀
😴⠀
The result was instant, within 24 hours I had my sleep back. It was a miracle. My skin still looked dreadful, but for the first time in two years, I had fallen asleep at 2200 and slept straight through to 0630, a perfect circadian rhythm in tune with my body clock. ⠀
ONE COFFEE A DAY that’s all I was drinking but obviously, that was too much for my body.⠀
Coffee puts stress on our system, that buzz we crave is actually a stress response which sends a message to our adrenal glands that we are in danger, it’s a fight or flight trigger. Our adrenals don’t know if we are running away from a tiger or just enjoying a caffeine hit and so it pumps out the stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol. We all have different tolerance levels to every substance, and it was clear as day, that my body couldn’t handle the effect of one cup of delicious coffee. ⠀
Three months later I still crave the ritual of my morning coffee but it’s been a small price to pay for having my sleep back. For many, it’s hard to cut out the day to day stressors that put us into a state of fight or flight, but coffee is a relatively simple thing that could make an enormous difference to your sleep and ultimately your wellbeing…are you willing to try it?