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One of my new year’s resolutions was actually to stop drinking coffee, something I took great pleasure in throughout my life. But coming to my menopausal years I started to investigate more about what I could do to prevent excessive bone loss in the time ahead. What I found out was, that as little as 300 to 400 mg of caffeine a day (that’s around 2 -4 cups of coffee) doubles the risk of hip fracture!
Caffeine is a diuretic and increases the amount of calcium we excrete in our urine for several hours after we drink it, and I don’t want to continue doing things that will reduce the amount of calcium I absorb. Massey and Whiting of Washington State University concluded that:
“Oral doses of caffeine increase the urinary excretion of calcium, magnesium, sodium and chloride for at least 3 hrs after consumption. . . . Uncompensated losses of calcium would be a risk factor for development of osteoporosis. . . . Comparison of data from epidemiological surveys and animal and human studies suggests that for younger adult women consuming adequate calcium, moderate caffeine intakes may have little or no deleterious effects. Increased urinary and intestinal losses may be compensated for by increased intestinal calcium absorption. However older women do not seem to compensate adequately to maintain their former calcium balance, especially when calcium intakes are below recommendations.”
Researchers also found that caffeine may interfere with the absorption of Vitamin D. Since Vitamin D is necessary for the body’s absorption and use of calcium, I really thought it was not worth paying the price!
So I went to visit all my favorite organic shops in search for some substitute. And I found the most delicious caffeine-free coffee alternative! It’s made out of roasted organic barley grains and with organic soy milk I hardly can tell the difference anymore. I’m on it now since almost three weeks. I feel fully satisfied with this healthy version and hope you will give it a try when you want to kick your coffee habit too.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
hi Elke,
cool blog you have here. i must admit, as we grow older we do tend to start becoming wiser and realizing that certain things though we love to indulge in dearly are not very good for us.
Last year, i think it was the end of october, i decided to quite smoking. I just did and and i must admit it feels great, though i have been putting on weigh since then. But giving up something you love is very hard. Coffee is next on my list. i tried the first few weeks of this year but failed. i also started this year deciding to eat healthier. I have managed to go for the last month without indulging in any mcdonalds or kfc, which i used to indulged in quite a bit..
will take your suggestions on coffee alternatives and give it a try.
cheers
karen
Hi Karen,
you should be proud of yourself, I know how difficult the change of habits can be. Hope you’ll like the coffee alternative. Let me know about your experience.
Elke