Caffeine Makes Me Hungry

I had to stop drinking my green tea in the afternoon because about an hour later I would be starving. When I don’t drink the tea, I don’t get hungry. I’m back to just one cup of coffee in the morning. I’ve asked other people if caffeine makes them hungry. I’ve yet to find someone else who has noticed a connection between caffeine and hunger. I want to know why this is happening to me, so I decided to do a bit of research.

I know caffeine is a diuretic; therefore, drinking a lot will make you thirsty. I’ve heard that sometimes when a person thinks they’re hungry, they’re actually thirsty. This might be the case, but even if I drink water, I still think I’m hungry.

I found an interesting article on caffeine, http://www.stanford.edu/~johnbrks/theCafe/substance/caffeine.html. The article is somewhat contradictory because it states that caffeine is used as an appetite suppressant and then it goes on. Here’s the thing about caffeine and hunger “Ironically, caffeine can make it more difficult to lose weight because it stimulates insulin secretion, which reduces serum glucose, which in turn can increase hunger”. Aha! I thought I was getting hungry! The article is definitely worth reading because it talks about the amount of caffeine in a few beverages. It also says that more than 10 grams of coffee per day is lethal…hah…death by coffee! That would make an interesting mystery novel.

More articles that confirm the caffeine and hunger link are below.

http://walking.about.com/od/walkoflife/a/blday24x.htm
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11068

This one has some caffeine links.
http://www.peakperformance.on.ca/health/caffeine_connection.htm

This article is very interesting. It says that coffee causes irritation of body tissues, which is mistaken for hunger. Could I be confusing my body trying to eliminate an irritant with hunger?
http://ccmhi.org/coffeedrinkingandweightgain.html

Here’s a Wikipedia article that shows the spider web of a spider on caffeine. I remember that picture from my biology class in the late 70’s.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine


This article, http://blogs.webmd.com/busy-family-healthy-family/2006_02_01_archive.html, backs up the insulin/caffeine connection.

I hear conflicting health information all the time. It can be confusing. For me, it comes down to which resources I trust. I tend to trust the medical and scientific resources over the newspaper or TV reports. I always give the sources of my information on my blog, so if someone reads my blog they can form their own opinions.

I’ll continue to drink my cup of coffee per day and only occasionally have afternoon tea. I believe the medical and scientific resources that tell me a cup of coffee or tea a day is beneficial to one's health.