The average coffee drinker consumes over three cups a day, and spends over $160 per year on the stuff. How many of those cups do you think the consumer actually enjoys? Rather than a beautiful, nurturing ritual, coffee has become a serious necessity, as herds of zombie-like humans approach their morning watering hole every day. Most people are on autopilot at this point – they don’t think twice about knocking back a few cups a day, and consider it a necessity to keep up with the fast pace of life.

The truth is that the busier you are, the more discerning you need to be with coffee on a day to day basis. That means no robotic guzzling without really considering how you feel and what you need to perform at your absolute best. Coffee used to give me a nice jolt of energy, and now it’s actually more likely to make me tired, because my body responds to real energy sources like whole foods and sleep, not artificial ones. This is what happens long-term if you continue to drink even moderate amounts of coffee – your adrenal glands start to burn out from the repeated stress responses triggered by constant coffee consumption.When people come to me with chronic fatigue, sleep disorders, anxiety, weight gain, headaches and digestive issues, coffee is one of the first things we talk about.

I’m no caffeine nazi, and I love my coffee on occasion, but we need to be honestly weighing out the pros and cons. Coffee is a crutch that we think will make us more productive and successful by default, and it’s often the opposite.

The first step is to build a solid baseline: make sure you’re getting your energy from authentic, renewable sources like nutrient-dense food, great sleep, healthy relationships and a fulfilling career. Your adrenals are exhaustible, and caffeine exacerbates them. Creating authentic high-energy from real sources balances adrenal stress and allows you to perform and connect at a high level, advancing your career and bettering your life in a very real and sustainable way.

Here are some steps to take to ensure that coffee is a delicious luxury you actually enjoy, rather than a daily necessity that you think you need for survival:

1. Get real about how you feel after coffee, and not just immediately. How do you feel throughout the whole day after your morning coffee? How is your energy? Is your mind sharp?

   Are you feeling happy? Excessive coffee consumption has been linked to depression. It’s really easy to ignore the fact that coffee may be affecting you, but if you want to be a superhero you’ve got to get real with yourself.

2. Practice conscious choices around coffee. If you notice that it’s an automatic routine rather than a conscious choice, slow down. Try having some tea or juice instead of your coffee and see how you feel. This doesn’t mean you have to give up coffee forever; it just means you’re willing to prioritize your health and honor your body, and that you know how important it is to bring full energy to everything you do.

3. Cut it out for a week. If you’re having a lot of the symptoms I describe in this article, you may want to phase coffee out for a brief period.

4. Go organic. Organic beans actually affect the body in a very different way than the conventional stuff, since they retain natural oils that cause caffeine to break down more slowly in the body, avoiding that extreme spike and crash many people feel from caffeine.

5. Make it Bulletproof. I learned about this stuff about a year ago, and have never looked back. By combining coffee with great fats from coconut or grass-fed butter, the effects of caffeine are cushioned and it releases much more slowly in your blood. Try it out and notice the awesome, steady energy you feel.

Bonus pro tip: Bump up your seaweed intake to balance the acidifying effects of coffee. The high iodine content is exactly what your body needs when you’ve been over-caffeinated (for years perhaps).

Grab some seaweed snacks (just watch the processed oils and additives) or throw a piece of kombu into your pot of rice or quinoa. Eating iodine-rich foods will really allow you to enjoy coffee in an amount that works for you (experiment to find out how much you can handle) without feeling crazy.

There are lots of different ways to make bulletproof coffee, but I like to keep it simple and super frothy by blending it.

Take a look at your own coffee consumption this week and let me now if you plan to adjust it, or think you could benefit from reducing it.

I want to hear from you in the comments below, or give me a shout at lula@lulabrown.com.

Lula’s “Bulletproof” Coffee

Ingredients
Serves 1

12 ounces hot brewed organic coffee
1 tablespoon grass-fed butter
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 cup full-fat pure coconut milk

Method

Add all ingredients to blender and blend for one minute until frothy. Serve in your favorite mug or glass and enjoy slowly.

Photo: Jake Freeman