Caffeine Before Fat Adapted, Y or N?

#1

I am nearing week 5 of Keto WOE and before Keto rarely drank coffee. HOWEVER…when I was hit with crippling fatigue I started drinking caffeinated coffee (large Yeti cup…about 3-4 cups) with a tablespoon of heavy cream OR 3-4 tablespoons of 25 cal 0 carb/0 sweetener/0 sugar cashew milk. It definitely helps me wake up but I am wondering now after reading sooo much conflicting information on coffee if this is why there’s been negligible weight loss, if I am messing up the process of getting fat adapted, please help :neutral_face:

#2

FWIW I’ve never had issues with coffee but some people do and some have issues with sweeteners.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #3

I have learned two very important things on these forums about coffee and its effect on a low-carb/keto diet:

  1. Coffee is terrible for keto, because it kicks you out of ketosis.

  2. Coffee is excellent for keto, because it stimulates ketosis.

It is also clear that whatever causes the effect is something other than caffeine, because everyone agrees that tea has no effect on ketosis.

#4

Appreciate it, I don’t use any sweetener, I guess maybe I should try to give up the coffee for a week and see if there’s any improvement…

#5

Thanks Paul, might be time for me to give green tea a try then, I know I am sensitive to pesticides and coffee can be loaded with them, I guess I could try organic coffee if I can’t learn to love green tea lol. I definitely cannot stomach Chai tea for some reason even before Keto it tasted sickeningly sweet to me and most have cinnamon which I am allergic to now.

#6

Are you eating enough? In the early stages I was afraid of fat and calories so both were low but fat equals energy.

Usually people speak of extra energy in keto not less.

But less is not impossible. In early stages of Keto adaptation we lose electrolytes like potassium (it stabilises in a few weeks) and magnesium but once depleted it can be hard to make up the lost ground. We need supplements for a time. At least sodium (daily!)

I have used caffeine as a prop to keep me up (before keto) but it’s not a good idea. I would then crash hard at random and inopportune times.

Are your magnesium levels good? Vitamin D etc. I strongly encourage you to addresss the root cause.

(Charlotte) #7

I started keto with a bulletproof tea using black tea instead of coffee. I never had any trouble. I switched to coffee after I was adapted. That was pure coincidence though.

#8

I do supplement with extra salt, Magnesium, and eat potassium rich foods like avocado, I take vitamin D daily because I do have a deficiency and also take B vitamins (I do notice whenever I have something with Niacin I feel much better).

#9

I think I will give tea a try :grin:

(Allie) #10

If you’re struggling with fatigue the last thing you want is caffeine. Even putting aside the possible adrenal issues, using caffeine to pick yourself up will l only result in a bigger energy crash when it wears off. Your sleep is likely to be worse too and that creates a perpetual loop of bad sleep, fatigue, and coffee.

Find the actual cause of the fatigue problem and work to fix that rather than using stimulants as a crutch and ultimately making things worse.

#11

If you need something to wake you up in the morning, you could just as well try unsweetened almond milk with cream, tea with cream, green tea with a pinch of salt and cream (in many places in Asia they salt their tea, and add butter in winter), warm water with salt and coconut oil or cream…

You should start with suspecting that what wakes you up is a warm drink with fat. Not the caffeine. Actually, you drink so much coffee, I’d suspect that you wake up dehydrates. Don’t take this as just needing water, you need warm water. Cold water must be warmed up in the stomach before it can be released into the intestine for absorption. Water at body temperature passes almost straight into the bloodstream. But add some salt to your water.

(Omar) #12

if " what makes me feel good" is good, then heroin makes the addictive person feels good after taking the dose.

Coffee is no different than any addictive substances.

#13

You’re ideas definitely got me thinking more about this, I don’t think it’s the temperature of the drink that I’m after though, because when I drink warm herbal decaf tea it generally makes me sleepy :sleeping:

#14

Very true, probably best to limit my caffeine, I definitely don’t want to pick up or replace one bad habit (sugar) with another (caffeine) :blush:

#15

I agree and I see that it is, like you say creating a loop. I have upped my Vit D as low levels before definitely made my fatigue really pronounced. I think part of it is hormonally driven as certain times are worse than others, hate to have my blood taken, but it’s about time to check all my levels and address any underlying problem :slightly_smiling_face:

#16

Body temperature is actually a little lower than we usually drink hot beverages on. I tend to wait until it’s just the right temperature to down the whole cup, or I mix hot and cold water. I use cream in coffee to make it cold enough to drink. If the whole cup just disappears at that temperature, I know I was dehydrated…

(Jane) #17

I guess so because if I had to give up coffee to go keto it would have been a deal-breaker for me.

And I never would have discovered the other health benefits of keto.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #18

Hi, My name is David and I am a Coffeeholic. It’s been 5 minutes since my last drink.

But I would rather be a coffee addict than go to those stupid meetings every morning. :rofl:

Overdoing it with anything is not good. I drink espresso in the morning and about 6 cups of green tea throughout the rest of the day. I like it, if you don’t consume caffeine to the point of being jittery I believe that coffee and green tea are loaded with beneficial antioxidants. Coffee has been said to be the healthiest thing in the SAD by some experts (sorry, no references to post). I agree that it’s an individual thing, if it doesn’t work for you and gets in the way of your goals leave it behind. If not, enjoy it like I do! :cowboy_hat_face:

(*Tame Those Ghrelin Gremlins) #19

I’m not sure of an answer, I suppose it depends on the person. Experiment? I drink 2 cups of coffee only in the morning with a splash of cream and a few pinches of salt. I had no issues drinking coffee on keto. It does not kick me out of ketosis, I love my coffee. Some people advise against it but I will never give up my coffee. I’ve steadily lost weight (30 pounds in 3 months average)

#20

Thank you for sharing, my body seems to be so ridiculously sensitive to everything, every time I take Magnesium even I go up in weight overnight (assuming it water weight) but every little setback costs me days and I have over 75lbs to lose…hoping something encouraging happens soon.