Caffeine and Hormones

After reading this you’ll understand how caffeine impacts your client’s hormones and how to have a hormone informed conversation with them. 

In the first half of this post, I’ll share 3 biological impacts that caffeine has on female physiology & in the end I’ll share ways to create curiosity-based conversations with your clients about caffeine use and share a resource that you can use to help you and your clients track their hormones. 

So let’s go in and discuss how caffeine impacts female physiology. 

  1. This amazing study by Shliep et. al. showed us that our genetics actually play a huge role in caffeine metabolization. The authors wrote, “Both caffeine and E2 are metabolized by the hepatic enzyme CYP1A2 (22, 23). Polymorphisms of CYP1A2 have been linked to variability in caffeine clearance (24) and serum E2 concentrations (25) and have been shown to modify relations between caffeine intake and adverse health outcomes (26, 27).”

This well cited explanation tells us that the changes in the enzyme CYP1A2 is different in different bodies and can change how we use caffeine!!!

It also mentioned that this enzyme changes estrogen concentration too, which is a really important thing to note when we’re talking about mitigating high estrogen symptoms like cramps, anxiety, mood changes, diarrhea and headaches. 

So a good talking point with your client here would be that caffeine and estrogen are used by the same enzyme. That enzyme is necessary for helping you get rid of estrogen. Consuming caffeine impairs that process. 

2. Caffeine causes an increase in cortisol, which impacts hormone balance… because cortisol is just another hormone. 

Whether you’re being chased by a saber tooth tiger or drinking a delicious triple shot latte, your body doesn’t know the difference, it only sees cortisol. This stress hormone tells the rest of your hormones, it’s not the time go through the natural hormone cycle, it’s a time to f*cking run. 

3. Caffeine impairs blood sugar control. 

Since caffeine increases cortisol, that has an inverse relationship to blood sugar. More caffeine = less blood sugar stability. Less blood sugar stability = overall imbalance.

This is why that 2pm slump happens to people who drink coffee then eat nothing! Our blood sugar plumbettes and we get tired, get hangry or have the inability to make wise food choices!And this imbalance can become so bad in some instances, that caffeine can cause ovulation to stop. 

A good question to ask your client would be something like, “do you notice that you drink coffee before you eat food? How does that affect your mood?

When helping your client decide how much caffeine is right for her, I want you to start off doing something that I have my clients do and I did myself when I got off caffeine that I talked about in this video…Encourage her to ask this powerful question.. “Why do I want coffee right now?” Is there something else my body needs?” If she is dependent on caffeine, that’s the ironic sign that she needs to get off.

Ask your client if she is eating before, after or with her coffee. Encourage your client to eat something before having coffee. Stabilizing blood sugar with fiber, fat and protein FIRST before coffee will have less of an implication on blood sugar. 

And this is for you, as a personal trainer. Remember how caffeine and estrogen are linked?! Help your client assess for hormone imbalances that tell you that estrogen is too high and I’ll tell you how to do this at the end of the video. The high estrogen symptoms are.  

  • Anxiety

  • Extreme Mood Changes

  • Cramps

  • Clotted / Purple Menstrual Blood

  • Headaches

  • Diarrhea 

If you or your clients get any of those PMS symptoms and your drink caffeine, your likely not detoxing estrogen which I talked about in point #1 of this video…

So, now for that hormone assessment tool I mentioned. This free cyclical assessment guide will help you track your client’s cycle and cycle symptoms that I mentioned earlier (like anxiety, mood changes, cramps, etc…) 

Now, not everyone will be keen on talking to you about their cycle, so you can choose to have them fill this out on their own or you can fill this out with them. You can download this free cyclical assessment right here - https://fitnessflowmethod.com/get-the-cyclical-assessment 

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