I enjoy coffee very much. I have recently enjoyed it less recently though, because I’ve begun to realize how it negatively affects my persona. I recognized the effects one day as I was sitting with my children, everything was going fine, and I decided to make myself some coffee. I quickly became quick to anger, chaotic in my mind, and a subtle distress, shakiness, and forgetfulness appeared. I thought maybe it was something else, or that maybe the particular situation of my life at that moment was having an effect, but after sensing this each time I have coffee after, I realize that for my particular body, this is causal. I only noticed this because I specifically focused on it, becoming more aware over time of effects of certain foods and situations on my persona, and removed other stimuli to try to see if coffee was the culprit. For me, it was. I am kind of sad about this fact, but I also realize that the absence of coffee, for me, makes me calmer, more focused, and less shaky. This might seem obvious, as many people drink coffee for this particular effect, but I do not think of this state as my best state, and so, why pursue it?
Note that I do not typically have just a cup of coffee, and less coffee means less adverse affects. I typically make 28 ounces in a French Press, and finish it in a short period of time, usually an hour or less. I used to have it with Splenda and fat free milk, and moved to raw sugar and whole milk, thinking perhaps that the processing of the materials in the food were part of the issue. I still drink coffee from time to time, and notice the almost immediate effects, regardless of the setup of the beverage.
As a result, I’ve focused more on tea as an alternative to coffee, and have not only not seen those effects appear, but I have seen other more positive effects appear instead. I’ve noticed after drinking tea that I breathe better, have more focus, and am generally calmer. I purchase loose teas, and enjoy them just as much as coffee. There are many stated benefits to green and black teas that I am interested in gaining.
However, there are still issues with this. I love bananas, and enjoy them very much. However, they are wrought with issues because they are not local food. They will not ever be local food. There is a huge carbon footprint to eating bananas. The Chiquita Dole company also has a sordid history in terms of how it treats its banana workers. For more on this, consider the documentary “Bananas!” on Netflix Watch Now. If you can understand why I am conflicted in eating bananas, you can understand how I likely feel about drinking coffee, and tea. Both have a huge carbon footprint, and neither are local.
I started asking people who are like minded how they solved this problem, and they all have the same answer: Grow your own herbal teas. When I asked what herbs and other plants made the best teas, I got a long list of beneficial, familiar, local herbs that are perfectly suited for tea. These start with rosemary, thyme, sage, raspberries, mint, ginger, and include basically every other edible, fragrant herb you can think of. I was referred to Victoria Zak’s 20,000 Secrets of Tea, and it’s so far, it’s a very enlightening read.
I’ve just started adding rosemary and oregano to my beloved gunpowder tea, and it’s lovely.
Related articles
- Green Tea – Why Drink It? (dominicspoweryoga.com)
- Japanese study reveals green tea, coffee may lower stroke risk (japandailypress.com)
- Being Frugal Without Giving Up Your Social Life (wisebread.com)
- ‘Death Wish’ Coffee is About as Potent as Sniffing Ground-Up ProPlus (gizmodo.co.uk)
- “Reverse French” Coffee Making (kk.org)
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John, this was a really interesting post! My wife and I have been trying to transition to a mix of vegetarian and clean eating lifestyles for some time. It’s incredibly difficult to make dietary decisions when you begin to account for things like local and low-footprint foods. While we’ve started doing most of our shopping at Whole Foods, Earth Fare and smaller organic markets in town, your post made me realize how these organizations cannot entirely overcome the challenge of sourcing locally.
To be honest, I never considered the banana industry as harmful because all we’re told is that they’re a great addition to our diets. Considering that I now eat at least one banana daily, I’m beginning to think it’s time to find potassium elsewhere. I’ll definitely check out the documentary on Netflix.
I recently moved from Princeton and only afterwords found your blog. Keep up the awesome work here, I look forward to following your progress and very informative posts. Hope to meet up with you on an future visit to Jersey!
Zack, thanks so much for the kind response. It really is a process to move to vegetarianism and whole foods, isn’t it? I think a big part of it for me is just the inertia of being led to fast food, being advised to eat as we do in this country, and to resist changes for the better because it does not support the USDA to take on the different lifestyle, even though it supports us holistically. I agree, shopping better sources can improve our situation, but seldom provides all of our touchpoints in this effort. Unless you are buying from a local farmer who only sells her own goods that she herself planted and harvested, it’s hard to achieve a fully whole, local, seasonal, ecologically sound nutritional lifestyle. I’m going to experiment with this during the growing season with a local CSA I just joined. If you are ever in the area, I would absolutely love to meet you, and I promise that you and your wife will be treated to the best meal I can come up with from the ground here. Cheers!
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Fast is easy. Pre-made gives us convenience and more leisure time. The longer food lasts in our pantry, the more value we get out of it. It’s sad that we grow up with those impressions without being taught to think of the implications our choices have on both our health and environment.
For me, growing my own food flat out scares me. (It was a miracle that my poinsettia at work made it past the holidays this year!) I would love to get past that fear and rely on myself and farmers for food, and not on grocery chains, Whole Foods or not. Very interesting stuff, but I definitely have a lot to learn from your blog!
That sounds fantastic! We’ll keep in touch, it’d be great to meet you in person.