How Caffeine Triggers Fight-Flight-Freeze Response

Ron Teeguarden's Spring Dragon Longevity Tea

After drinking coffee, have you ever felt "wired," like your brain won't shut off?  Or irritable?  Impatient? Or you thought caffeine was supposed to suppress your appetite, but you're still having a hard time managing your weight?  Or have you ever experienced a caffeine hangover? Understanding how caffeine works on our brains and bodies is important to become trauma-informed and avoid becoming trauma-inflamed.  

Caffeine can inflame our adrenal glands, which are small glands above our kidneys that release hormones triggering the fight-flight-freeze response, the same response that is set into action when we're triggered from years of growing up with chronic trauma (i.e., domestic violence, child abuse).  Every time we drink coffee, we activate our fight-flight-freeze response.  Adrenals ordinarily release adrenaline so we can react to stress, but they are also releasing that adrenaline due to coffee. ¡Ay ya yai!

Adrenal Fatigue

When there's a chronic release of adenaline, our adrenals burn out, known as adrenal fatigue. Keeping caffeine limited, can help us avoid this burn out.  "But I need my morning coffee," we say!  Cortisol is ordinarily high in the morning; it actually helps us wake up!  Cortisol is also the hormone released when we're under mental stress.  So when we add coffee to the mix, even more cortisol is being produced. That morning cup of Joe can help us feel we have more energy for up to several hours, but once it's worn off, we feel even more tired.  High cortisol production can lead to fatigue and difficulty sleeping. When we're putting a lot of stress on our adrenal glands and the cortisol is overproducing, we can reverse the production - leaving us with low cortisol in the morning, making it harder to wake up.  Which is why we need our coffee to help "wake us up."

When we're stressing our adrenals, we can also have increased cortisol production during meals, which can lead to overeating, higher body fat and reduced metabolism, making it harder to burn calories.  Another issue can be insomnia or an inability to have stage four sleep, when the brain produces delta waves and we repair our bodies and rebuild.

Other impacts from too much caffeine can be premature aging and wrinkling skin due to dehydration and loss of collagen and elastin, which makes our skin youthful.  Other medical impacts include irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux, stomach ulcers, diarrhea, Crohn's disease, colitis, high blood pressure, and anxiety.

What are some alternatives?  

The good news is there are many alternatives, like filtered or spring water, herbal teas, and green juices.  Some of my favorites are Suja's Green Supreme, Teecino Hazelnut Chicory Herbal "Coffee," and Ron Teeguarden's Spring Dragon Longevity Tea. Taking a 30-day break from coffee gives our adrenals time to recover, restore hormonal balance and control from the cycle of caffeine, which can become an addiction.  Some suggest slowing down daily consumption rather than going cold turkey, to avoid withdrawal headaches; others also recommend substituting matcha green tea or raw cacao in place of daily coffee.  Matcha has half the caffeine as coffee, but also has antioxidants, is stimulating yet also calming to avoid getting anxious, it is rich in detoxifying chlorophyll and fiber, and good for skin health.

Are you or your students exposed to chronic trauma?  How much caffeine is in your or your students' cup, can, or cup?