Coffee's reputation is all over the place. Is it good for you? Is it bad for you? Will it help you? Is it hurting your hormones? 

Let's just start with, you're fine to have your coffee everyday! Phew... Breathe. 

BUT... There's always a "but," right? 

I want you to make sure you're drinking your coffee like you drink your alcohol... responsibly. 

So here's the 3 things I want to make sure you focus on when you consume coffee: 

1. Wait at least 60 minutes after waking up before you have coffee 

   • If you're a 'wake up and drink coffee before you even realize you're awake' kinda gal, then you may be messing up your body's cortisol awakening response.  

   • You want to make sure you're giving your body time to come online by itself, without forcing it with coffee. 

   • Within about 30-60 minutes of waking up, your cortisol levels should rise naturally. This helps you feel awake and ready for the day. If you find that you NEED coffee before you feel awake, it's likely that this response isn't happening naturally. 

   • So by practicing this waiting period, you are letting your circadian get back online first, THEN you're adding in your coffee 

2. Pair your coffee with a meal 

   • Ideally this is a FULL meal. Not just a bagel on the go with your cup of coffee 

   • Coffee on an empty stomach is what causes all the negative side effects for most people. 

   • If I had a nickel for every time someone I worked with told me all they did was change how they had their coffee and their period symptoms improved.... 

   • Make sure to have a meal that includes protein with your coffee. This not only helps your cortisol, it also helps your blood sugar levels stay stable! 

3. Stop drinking coffee by 12pm 

   • Remember that cortisol awakening response we talked about earlier? This gets impaired when we drink coffee too late in the day. Your melatonin won't kick online in the evening and you'll find that you have a hard time falling asleep 

   • So make sure you're done with your coffee by no later than noon! This will help you get better sleep at night and you will have an easier time following Rule #1 

Not only will you find that your stomach isn't having as many issues, your period symptoms like PMS, period pain, and fatigue will also start to improve... AND you'll also notice you're sleeping better. You have more energy. You don't feel like you're relying on coffee. You're just enjoying it. As it should be! 

If you feel like you are dependent on coffee to exist... we need to figure out why you feel so exhausted. Do you/are you: 

• Getting quality sleep? 

• Getting a good quantity of sleep? 

• Have a healthy cortisol rhythm? 

• Have good gut health and liver health to process all the coffee you're drinking? 

There's several things to look at if you feel like you can't miss a day of coffee, or you're overly reliant on it!

If you need help getting your coffee habits to a healthy place for your periods and your hormones, then it's time to schedule a visit and get your hormones in a good place!