Nutrient absorption- coffee, grains and alcohol

[Danielj1]

I have from time to time tried various food combinations - but a few months back tried cutting out coffee grains and alcohol at the same time and felt much better after a week and dropped some weight.

I have over the past week picked this up again and with similar immediate results.

It has left me wondering that supporting good stomach health may be a better way to longer term weight loss and health - on the basis of all the research done over stomach issues relating to these food/drinks.

Many love coffee and depend on it I accept, but when you realise a degree of sensitivity then the downsides just do not seem worth it.

Likewise, I would now say the same for alcohol.

Grains and gluten is well covered here anyway, I would only add rice and oats may also not be as helpful as you think - as not gluten per se but also not helpful possibly either.

If others reached this collusion much earlier than me I can only say well done !

[Pearlteapot]

Could you elaborate on why you think oats are not helpful?

I understand them to be positively good for the biome, slow release energy and good for cholesterol (while acknowledging article posted a few days ago that said cholesterol is not a negative anyway). Chuckling goat who make and sell goat keffir recommend adding oats to a gut healthy smoothy in the mornings.

[Danielj1 in reply to Pearlteapot]

They are good for all the reasons you say - I simply found when I felt much better when I cut them out too - it may be simply a need to cut down on all carbs as rice is not much help for me either ...the other thing was they seemed to hinder rather than help weight loss - it sounds counter intuitive I know but that is what I found ...this may not help but I seem better with carbs from vegetables perhaps ?

[helvella in reply to Pearlteapot]

If nothing else, not all oats are gluten-free. Those which are (and clearly say so on their packaging) tend to be significantly more expensive and at least slightly more difficult to find.

If gluten is considered a possible issue, having oats which might or might not contain some gluten is a problem. You can never be sure whether it was the oats themselves or the uncertain presence of gluten. One pack might actually be gluten-free, the next not, even if they are the same brand, etc.

Once a stable position has been reached without oats, then GF oats can be re-introduced. And, if still OK, it depends on the individual how sure they are about the underlying issue being gluten, but they might see if they tolerate the general oats which might or might not contain gluten.

[eiddew in reply to helvella]

I agree with helvella. It's worth paying extra for GF oat. Oat is basically cheap, even "expensive" version is still affordable.

I would add "certified organic" as a key consideration. Most grains, if not organic, are likely contaminated with glyphosate, commonly used as a herbicide, and a desiccant during harvesting. The fault may not be "grains", but glyphosate.

naturaler.co.uk/avoid-glyph...

onlyorganic.org/glyphosate-...

[Margo in reply to eiddew]

I read this week on Dr Mercola site, that 100% of the oats tested contained glyphosate in varying degrees.

[eiddew in reply to Margo]

Hi Margo

Hopefully that’s not the case with our Scottish organic GF oat.

[Marisa]

Is decaffeinated coffee or tea recommended/better?

[TeeDee63]

I agree that coffee may be an issue as I’ve had to cut out one of my two cups a day due to sensitivity, and I don’t drink alcohol so can’t comment. I will say that I’ve gone wheat, gluten and dairy free following the suggestion on here that it may improve symptoms ( I’d try anything) and feel a lot better. My tummy issues ( bloating etc) have resolved. I do however eat gluten free oats, and they do not negatively impact on the positives I have gained by cutting out the foodstuffs mentioned. Each person is different so if you feel better not eating oats that’s obviously in your best interest, but I feel oats are a nutritious staple and enjoy them.Best wishes

Tee x

[eiddew]

Hi Danielj1

Both coffee and alcohol kill deep, restorative sleep. Good sleep is our best medicine.

If you sleep well, you don't need caffeine in the morning, nor afternoon.

Alcohol, like cigarette, is a carcinogen. There's no safe level.

One easy read here.

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

You've done well kicking both in the past. Keep up the good habits.

Rice, as a plant, is well known for being good at storing arsenic from the soil. We're a fragile bunch in this community. We have access to plenty of alternative carb, we can afford to skip rice.

food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/...

Be well.

[eiddew in reply to eiddew]

Just to add some "entertaining" reference for sleep & caffeine/alcohol.Check out episodes #8 -11 by Prof. Matthew Walker.themattwalkerpodcast.buzzsp...

I like his little book "Why we sleep", too. He's a rare scientist who can articulate deep science to a broad audience.

[HowNowWhatNow in reply to eiddew]

I lived in a SE Asian country for 8 months. A country where people eat rice twice a day and not much else. Looking at the other Westerners (friends) I went out there with, all the other women put on quite a lot of weight around our middles. The men didn’t to the same extent, even though they ate even bigger quantities. I feel very well eating rice - and it is a helpful GF staple in my house - but too much of it is not good for blood sugar.

Re: arsenic, some types have more than others. Billions of people in India eat rice every day without going to hospital afterwards.

[eiddew in reply to HowNowWhatNow]

Hi GeogeorNo, low grade arsenic accumulation in your body would not land you in the hospital right after a meal. The effect is long term.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

We need to look at the bigger picture. The majority of SE Asians are plant-strong eaters. Indians eat a lot of spices and herbs, which are "medicines". Chinese also have a tradition of eating plants with medicinal properties as food. Do we in the west eat rice with lots of meat, or mostly veggies? Do we spend as much time outdoors, in the sun, as is the case for the majority of rural dwellers, rice eaters, in SE Asia?

Movement, sweating, are effective detox venues. Here in the west, the better-offs pay big bucks to go into infra-red sauna in order to sweat.

My point was, if our health is in sub-optimal state, I would prefer to take the best options I have based on the knowledge I have. We have the luxury of choices here in the UK. Most SE Asians do not.

[HowNowWhatNow in reply to eiddew]

Hi Eiddew

I don't think the evidence is here to dissuade people from eating rice purely on the grounds of arsenic.

The part of Asia I lived in is not especially sunny and even there, eating rice twice a day, people are not (to my knowledge) poisoned by their diet, and they eat a lot more of it in quantity than anyone I know here, as they have it for breakfast and dinner, and don't have a meal resembling lunch, as we do. Nor do they eat more vegetables / fruit a day than we do, on average.

I respect your decision not to eat rice because of the risk of acquiring arsenic in your system, but I would like to see a lot more data on this!

[Legoparis]

I think it would be interesting to know what carbs ( if any) you do eat for breakfast?

[eiddew in reply to Legoparis]

Hi Legoparis

I just did a quick google with keywords ""food x" nutrition".

Quinoa has built-in saponin to repel pest, farmers don't need to spray much even if not organic. And now we have British organic quinoa (britishquinoa.co.uk/).

Buckwheat is not wheat, naturally GF.

And if fruit sugar is not a concern, organic bananas and apples are cheaper than organic GF oat, by weight.

Food examples with carb content comparable to oat

[Legoparis in reply to eiddew]

Thank you for all this I generally have fruit or buckwheat -nice to know what others eat at breakfast

[eiddew in reply to Legoparis]

That’s awesome, Legoparis. Far better than cheese scones/croissants and latte made with non-organic cow’s milk: once upon a time, my staple, when I ate for calories and convenience, instead of nutrients and health.

[CG12345]

I’ve read that although gluten free grains aren’t gluten, they still have a similar molecular structure and so if we have a gluten sensitivity there can be a degree of molecule mimicry with any/all grains and our body can get confused and think we are too intolerant to those grains. Also corn is very high up there on intolerances for a lot of people too but it’s not talked about nearly as much.

I definitely don’t lose weight unless I go very low carb (veggies only) and then it literally falls off me (even if I’m eating more calories then than I did on a normal carb/low calorie diet). Found this out but trialing Dr Gottfried’s method in The Hormone Reset Diet.

[CG12345]

Also there is a genetic component to coffee synthesis which determines how well you can tolerate coffee. If you’ve done a 23andme or anything similar you can check by looking at the raw data

nutritionsociety.org/papers...

[HowNowWhatNow in reply to CG12345]

Do you recommend 23 and me?

[CG12345 in reply to HowNowWhatNow]

It depends for what reason you’d want to get it.

[HowNowWhatNow in reply to CG12345]

What reason did you get it for and do you rate it for that reason?

[CG12345 in reply to HowNowWhatNow]

I mainly got it for ancestry reasons - which I would say if that’s something you’re interested in then yes would rate. The health insights are cool but if you’re wanting a DNA test for that reason there’s probably better options out there for that but the raw data can be useful to use if you know what you’re looking for