as you're drinking your morning cup of joe you're probably just waiting for that wonderful rush of energy and alertness you've come to know and enjoy. within 15 minutes of gulping your caffeine your adrenalin rises increasing your heart and breathing rates your stomach starts to produce more acids and your urinary output rises (as anyone with a small bladder knows! ). but i bet you didn't know that caffeine tweeks your adrenal glands to produce more cortisol (stress hormone) which then stimulates the release of the liver's stored sugars. any endurance athlete knows this and uses it to their advantage. you drink your caffeine and then use the newly circulating sugar fuel to power through another workout. but what if you're sitting at your desk sipping your coffee with nowhere to go? then you might have problems because when the sugar levels rise with caffeine so do insulin levels which when they finally plummet after handling the circulating sugar leave a rip roaring appetite for more sugar in their wake. for runners and bikers this makes sense since you've just burned a zillion calories and need to replenish the sugar stores. not so for someone in an office cubicle with nowhere to go. here are some suggestions. to kill carb cravings associated with caffeine ingestion make certain to eat a combo of protein and fiber. how about peanut or almond butter on a multigrain cracker? or have that caffeine with a yogurt and blueberries or eggs and veggies. you get the point. when you're downing lots of coffee with nothing in your stomach you're more likely to reach for sugary foods so watch out. or you can just drink beverages with less caffeine in them: 6 ounces brewed coffee 105 mg caffeine; 6 ounces instant coffee 55 mg; 12 ounces colas 35-45 mg; 6 ounces tea 35 mg. now remember when you go to one of your fancy schmancy coffee houses you'll often be purchasing at least 8 ounces of coffee and closer to 12 ounces so you're really consuming over 200 mg of caffeine. all the more reason to be cautious if you just happen to be one of those people who is affected by the sugar rush.
why does coffee give me such an energy boost?