Hormone Imbalance: Living In A Decaffeinated World

Could you give up caffeine? Kelly M did and she likes what she sees. Read more from Kelly on her blog.

And I’m a decaf girl

Caffeine, specifically coffee is part of my daily life. I drink 2-3 cups a day. It relaxes me, curbs my appetite and keeps me sane. This past year I have been dealing with acne on my face. I never had problems with my skin until recently. I know it is one of the symptoms of peri-menopause, but I’ve tried so many things to get rid of them and nothing had worked.

The only times I have given up caffeine was when I was pregnant. During both pregnancies I couldn’t stand the smell or taste of coffee for the first three months because of morning sickness. So that made giving up coffee easier. When I was ready to have coffee after the first trimester I drank decaf because I read that caffeine wasn’t good for the baby.

Drinking too much caffeine can cause acid buildup

I wrote a blog post called Hormones, Acne & Peri-menopause…Oh My! The blog post contained a podcast from the Go Fit Gals and a video from The Lodown. Both of them contained information about hormone imbalance. Dr.Terry in The Lodown video is an Integrative Cosmetic Skin Doctor. She looks at skin care from the inside out by examining  the person’s gut health along with lifestyle and how it affects the skin.  Hormonal imbalance. inflammation and caffeine can cause buildup of acid.  She also mentioned sugar, but me giving up sugar would be another blog post.  She suggested having lemon and water in the morning or green juice. The juice can have kale or broccoli to help balance your diet and make it more alkaline.  You can watch the video here.

Caffeine can increase your stress hormones.

Dr, McGee in the Go Fit Gals podcast explained that as we age estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone aren’t being made as much because the ovaries are shrinking. As we age the adrenal glands are supposed to take over to produce the hormones.  But if you are under too much stress, the stress hormones like cortisol increases instead. She also talks about how to test for hormone imbalance and what we can do to regulate them.  In the back of my mind I knew my beloved caffeine might have something to do with my acne and hormone imbalance, but I didn’t want to believe it. You can listen to the podcast here.

I will no longer drink caffeinated drinks on a daily basis.  I’ve already noticed my skin getting a bit clearer.  I don’t have the terrible afternoon breakouts anymore.

I would love to hear about you thoughts. Please leave your comments below.