Saturday, March 10, 2012

Coffee, Menopause and Me

You really can't get going in the mornings without it; actually over half of us do have a cup of coffee every day. And you have heard a lot of good things about your cup of Joe, when it comes to Alzheimer's disease. Coffee lowers the insulin and estrogen in the blood, and that triggers added protective agents in the brain, that can then protect you from the onset of this disease.
There are two more studies that I also want to share with you on the effects of coffee. When this study was done, it was not about caffeine in general, but specifically on coffee, which has over 200 elements in its composition.
A Harvard study followed 67,470 women between the ages of 34-59 for twenty-six years. Those women drank an average of four cups of coffee a day. They found that 4 cups a day lowered their risk of endometrial cancer of the lining of the uterus by 24%. Women, in the study, who drank and average of 2-3 cups of coffee a day, lowered their chances of getting the disease by 7%. That's a big difference in the percentages, huh?
On the other side of the coin, a study done in 2008 has shown that coffee can prevent some common medicines that menopausal women take on the regular basis, from being properly absorbed completely. These two meds are Levothroxine, for the thyroid, and Adendronate, for osteoporosis. Caffeine can also lower the circulating levels of estrogens and other hormones in women.
This study found that almost half of us drink an average of three cups of coffee a day, which sounds about right, huh? And the study then went on to say that when you drink caffeine 45 minutes before taking your meds, or up to 30 minutes after you take them, that caffeine can actually block the absorption of your prescription by 55% to 60%. That means you are only metabolizing ½ of your thyroid and osteoporosis prescription. I don't know about you, but I am thinking that I would really need the full dose of both of those drugs.
In the same study, it was also found that the caffeine can enhance certain drugs, including antidepressants, antibiotics and birth control pills. Once again, these are common prescriptions, taken by us, women who are dealing with perimenopause and menopause symptoms. The results in this study showed that when taken with coffee, these drugs persisted in the body for several hours longer than normal. It showed that some how the enzyme in the coffee blocked the rapid absorption of these meds.
Other side effects of coffee consumption can be trouble sleeping, it can also make heartburn worse and may be the cause of restlessness, heart palpitations and anxiety.
We hear about new studies coming out everyday. One day a study touts that red wine is good for us, the next day it is not. You have seen conflicting research with studies on oat bran and now coffee. I did want to share this with you these findings though, because I am interested in how and what I eat, affects how I feel, and how my prescriptions work. Hope it helped you as well.
Corby Cambell Shields
Co-Author Menopause Master Plan
http://menopausemasterplan.com/

View the original article here

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