Easy Ways To Make Coffee Healthier (and Naturally Sweet!)
One of the biggest lifestyle changes I have made over the last few years is my habits around coffee. When I was in nursing school and working in the emergency room, I remember drinking 4-5 cups of black coffee a day... always on an empty stomach.. and sometimes even with additional shots of espresso added. I remember going through the drive through one morning and the barista commenting back that I "might as well drink rocket fuel". And then to wonder why my hormones were imbalanced, I was struggling with anxiety, and couldn't sleep?? Rocket fuel might have been healthier…🙈
Health Benefits of Coffee
Not only do I know tons of people and have many health coaching clients that love the ritual and taste of coffee, but there are also many health benefits of including coffee in your diet! It is filled with antioxidants and helps you to focus by increasing brain function, and it even helps to increase your metabolic rate. The health of your metabolism is directly correlated with the overall health of your body! Some of my favorite benefits to including coffee into your diet are:
can help to support a healthy liver
decreases your rates of colorectal cancer by 26%
coffee drinkers are associated with decreased rates of developing alzheimers and dementia
Related Reads:
Warning Signs You May be Drinking Too Much Coffee
So yes there are benefits to coffee, but you know what they say about too much of a good thing... Excess caffeine can cause heart palpitations, increased stress and anxiety, and even have effects on your sleep quality. You may be someone who loves coffee, but it just isn't working well with your body for the time being. When this happens with my coaching clients I usually recommend switching to decaf coffee while building the body's resiliency through optimizing nutrition and overall wellness. Oftentimes we can reintroduce it later without the side effects!
Another option you can try is using green tea for caffeine instead. The caffeine level in green tea is lower than in a cup of coffee, and oftentimes can provide a feeling of energy without the jittery feeling!
How to Make Your Coffee Habit Healthier
There are so many easy habits you can include into your day to day life to make your coffee habit healthier, and to take advantage of the health benefits coffee can provide!
Swap to Organic Coffee : Did you know that coffee beans are one of the most chemically treated food products in the world?! Conventional coffee is exposed to fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and pesticides! When a food is labeled "organic" there are certain additional qualifications they need to meet. For coffee in particular, this includes that a minimum of 95% of the beans are grown organically without any of the above chemicals used on the crops. They also cannot be genetically modified, or use any additives or synthetic ingredients!
We love Fabula Coffee- it is organic, mold-free, low-acid and each batch is tested for over 350+ chemicals! You can use code KAELYN for 10% off your first Fabula order ✨
We have had a nespresso vertuo coffee machine for several years now and love the peru organic pods that you can get. I also found these reusable silicone lids on amazon that allow you to reuse the aluminum pods and refill with your own (organic) coffee grounds! It gives you so much more flexibility with the types of coffee you can make with your nespresso and saves a lot of money from buying the pods!
Include healthy fats and protein : in this blog post i talk about pairing carbs, fats, and proteins to help prevent a huge spike in blood sugar (and a subsequent blood sugar crash that leaves you feeling cranky.. or hangry) while snacking. The same principle applies to drinks and regulating blood sugar levels. If you are one of those coffee lovers that enjoys your cups of coffee with a sweet taste, try adding some healthy fats and proteins to help lessen a blood sugar spike. One of my favorite ways to do this is using whole milk or cream and collagen powder! Not only does this help regulate blood sugar, but it increases your protein intake. If you do not tolerate dairy well, you can also use coconut milk or coconut cream for the same effect.
Always drink coffee AFTER a meal : Drinking coffee on an empty stomach can wreck havoc on your adrenal system and hormonal health. Instead prep your morning coffee AFTER you have eaten a nourishing breakfast. The same goes for coffee later in the day- if you haven't eaten in a few hours, try to eat something before your next cup! I have had so many coaching clients that have implemented this ONE habit and noted an increase in emotional regulation, decreased anxiety, and less "jittery" feelings!
ENJOY it : it that means you like your coffee sweeter, go for it! When we regularly deprive ourselves from really enjoying something, we tend to end up bingeing hard later down the road. That is why I am all about enjoying things in moderation and finding healthy alternatives that can give you the same effect. (keep reading for good alternatives to naturally sweetening your coffee!)
Let's Talk Sugar.. How much, what kinds, and better options?
Did you know that the average american eats 17 teaspoons of sugar per day- which is nearly double the American Heart Association recommendation of no more than 6 teaspoons or 24 grams of sugar per day. Increased sugar intake has been shown to have adverse health effects including high blood pressure, weight gain, diabetes, insulin resistance, heart disease, fatty liver disease, and overall inflammation among many other health concerns. While I am not afraid of sugar and think it can be incorporated into a healthy diet, I do think that society overall needs to seriously cut back on the overconsumption. A great option is to first just be aware of all added sugar in processed foods and start by eliminating those from your diet.
I also try to eliminate refined sugars and instead opt for naturally sweet items like honey and maple syrup.
Then you can intentionally prioritize foods that are naturally sweet (because in nature, they are usually paired with fiber to help mitigate those sugars effects on the body such as in fruit), or those that have a low glycemic index comparatively. The term glycemic index refers to how much foods affect blood sugar levels; foods that raise the blood sugar really high quickly would rank higher on the glycemic index, whereas foods that have minimal effects on blood sugar levels would rank lower.
Cane Sugar, coconut sugar, brown sugar, table sugar.. are they all the same? What makes them different?
Table sugar (aka white sugar of granulated sugar) is actually made from sugar cane and is chemically known as sucrose, or a combination of glucose and fructose.
brown sugar is sugar that has been flavored and colored with molasses
coconut sugar is sugar from a coconut palm tree and relatively lower glycemic index than table sugar
But no matter what the type of sugar, the recommendation is the same- opt for one that is minimally processed and use sparingly! For myself, if I want an extra sweet flavor I usually will opt for a little bit of organic cane sugar or organic brown sugar that I keep on hand for baking. I usually get my pantry supplies from thrive market and love their selection of organic, sustainable baking products that help make treats a little healthier
But more often than not, i will use one of the methods below to naturally sweeten my coffee without adding any additional sweetener! The cool thing is that once you train your palette away from artificially sweetened foods, you really don't crave them as much Instead your body will crave the more nutrient-dense foods with high bio-available nutrients that support your body on a cellular level! If you are working to retrain your palette, i honestly recommend just going cold turkey rather than gradually decreasing it over time.
Back when I was starting to repair my health, I did several rounds of whole 30 as a bit of a "reset" and after that I started preferring non-sweet alternatives to things. I feel like if I has taken a really slow approach to minimizing artifical ingredients and sweeteners, I wouldn't have had such a change. And most people respond well to following stricter guidelines and "rules" when improving their health initially. Then as their bodies become more resilient they can have more nuance and flexibility. So if you are someone you is used to adding spoonfuls of sugar to your daily cup of coffee, I would quit the sugar (or corn syrup-ladened coffee creamer) completely and instead use one of the methods below.
Healthy Ways to Sweeten Your Coffee Naturally
If you like your coffee sweet, enjoy it! For me that means the healthiest way is using an ACTUAL, natural sweetener as opposed to one of the fake sugar alternatives. Once you have used regular sugars for sometime and you try something with artificial sweeteners in it, your taste buds can't help but notice how fake it tastes.
ceylon cinnamon : Not only can cinnamon help to add some natural sweetness and flavor your coffee, but it has also been shown to help regulate blood sugar and reduce inflammation!
pure vanilla extract: this is one of my favorite ways to naturally flavor coffee. I put a couple of drops of vanilla extract into the milk frother as it warms up (we have had the nespresso milk frother for YEARS and absolutely love it. It can either warm or cool your milk while frothing it so it's also perfect for those iced coffees in the summer time!)
pure maple syrup
raw honey: we love raw local honey in our home. If you are someone with seasonal allergies, try including local honey into your diet as it can help acclimate your body to the local allergens and de-sensitize your system to them over time! An iced honey latte in the summertime is one of my favorite afternoon treats!
unsweetened cocoa powder: did someone say mochas? Adding a scoop of cocoa powder gives you a naturally sweet, chocolatey flavor that actually provides your body with nutrients like magnesium and copper
DIY Starbucks Cold Foam Hack
We have a nespresso milk frother that has both a hot and cold setting which makes this cold foam hack extra easy, buuuut if you dont it is still doable with a handheld frother!
If using a frother, add the milk, a splash of vanilla and maple syrup, and turn the frother to the cold setting. It’ll whip it all up and make the yummiest cold foam without any artificial sweeteners.
If you are using a handheld frother, just add the same ingredients into a small bowl and use the frother until it gets really light and foamy. Then add it to your iced coffee for the perfect summer beverage!
There you have it! Dozens of ways to make your daily coffee a little healthier, or a bit sweeter naturally! Like with most things, I am a big advocate for enjoying your life in moderation- too much restriction has been shown to be bad for not only your mental health, but your long term physical health!
If you need help implementing healthy routines in moderation, check out my coaching page.
I’d love to hear from you!
Kaelyn