It seems absurd that one little cup- 16 ounces- could have such a hold on a person. And yet here I am faced with real emotion about the suggestion of giving up my morning cup of coffee in the name of health. Health, you say? As with many things there is evidence supporting both sides of the debate on whether or not coffee is beneficial. But did you know that for people with gluten sensitivity coffee is one of the most common cross-reactive foods? Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, also known as The Paleo Mom, provides a lot of information on The Pros and Cons of Coffee discussing everything from inflammatory properties, issues for celiacs and the debate on caffeine. For people like me who need to reduce inflammation and also love their coffee, the verdict is pretty clear. And pretty sucky.
To put it mildly, I don’t want to do it. But I know I may need to. <insert heavy sigh here> While I’m not technically in a full blown autoimmune thyroid state, I am quite symptomatic. The hair loss is REDICULOUS and frankly, it’s getting on my (and my family’s!) nerves. It’s quite annoying to be picking long blonde hairs off of everything ALL.DAY.LONG. Add that to an already enlarged thyroid, thyroid nodules, the presence of thyroid antibodies in my blood, a consistent 97.1 waking body temperature and always being tired, there’s reason enough to start following the AIP protocol which does not include coffee.
I’m trying the tea thing and it’s ok, but it’s not my creamy cup of coffee. I mean come on man, I already gave up dairy! What more do you want?! WHY does behavior change have to be so hard? And why can’t I be one of those people who can eat whatever they want and not have to worry about weight or health? Curse you genetics!! I would say my rant is over, but I may just pout about this for a while. I may or may not even be planning to stop by the coffee shop in the morning for one last farewell. Does this mean I have a problem?
I’d love to hear from any other AIP followers and how you got past the coffee vice – or anyone else who decided to kick the habit for that matter. My hat’s off to you. I also want to hear about reintroduction, if you reintroduced it at all andhow long you had to stay away.
Sincerely,
Your pouting friend
suburban spill 