Lately I’ve been enjoying a non-coffee Ayurvedic latte Made with chicory, chaga, spices, cacao, coconut butter, mct & my morning love. But I do love coffee, and small regular amounts of it have been linked to having healing benefits for maintaining the health of the micro-biome. I also really enjoy how making your coffee in the morning can be a ritual. Having said that, caffeine can be quite stimulating to the system, can disrupt the health of our hormonal homeostasis, and increase acidity and heat in the digestive system.
I don’t expect everyone to eliminate coffee all together, so let’s discuss a couple ways to make coffee easier on the body!
☕️ Here are a couple tips and tricks:
☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎First things first! ALWAYS have warm or room temp water first and don’t just dump coffee into the system as the body’s first fuel of the day.
1. Only have one cup of coffee a day. Get your fix before 10:00 am. The best time of day to drink coffee is between 6 am and 10 am, when the “cool, heavy, earthy” qualities of the kapha dosha make us feel a little sluggish.
2. Control your portion size! Overdosing on coffee can deplete the adrenals, dehydrate the system, and lead to other unpleasant side effects. Those huge swimming pool size cups are an absurd amount.
3. To cut the acidity add a fat: maybe a scoop of ghee, some coconut oil or MCT.
4. To mitigate the intensity of the caffeine try adding some cardamom powder.
5. Cold, cough, congestion? Skip the cream
6. Go organic. Why? Because conventional coffee can contain pesticide residues and mold
7. Shift away from the narrative “I have to have my coffee to function.” Because you don’t, and you are capable of great things without coffee 🌝
8. Make your coffee time a ritual. Bring consciousness, gratitude and joy to the process. View this mug and the ritual of making it as medicine, rather than blindly and quickly rushing through it.
COFFEE & YOUR DOSHA
VATA: when having, take your coffee creamy and sweet, because it will have a grounding, nourishing effect on your system. Drink 0–1 cup daily. Avoid if you have symptoms of excess vata, such as dehydration, dry hair, dry skin, constipation, insomnia, forgetfulness, restlessness, or if you feel scattered, spacey, or frazzled.
PITTA: Sweeten your coffee with a high-quality maple syrup or organic cane sugar, but skip the cream, to counteract the beverage’s acidic qualities. Drink 0–1 cup daily. Avoid if you have signs of a pitta imbalance, such as indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux, or skin rashes, or if you’re often
agitated, irritated, hypercritical, judgmental, or angry.
KAPHA: Take your coffee black. Milk or cream can increase congestion and sweeteners can cause weight gain for kaphas. Drink 1 cup daily, but not more.