A group of researchers from the University of Nevada-Reno discovered that coffee grounds can be used as biodiesel, and quite possibly in the near future, your car fumes will smell like a cup of freshly brewed cappuccino. But that very first cup of coffee that fuels most of us in the morning may not be the best way to start your day. In fact, doctors believe the best time to enjoy your cup of java is mid- to late-morning, between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
We at Bright Side usually look forward to our first cup of coffee in the morning, but the effects it can have on your body when you drink it on an empty stomach can be a true wake-up call.
1. You may feel sleepier.
Coffee is a wake-up drink for many of us, but drinking it as soon as you roll out of bed may have the opposite effect. Caffeine doubles the levels of stress hormones and may lead to problems with sleep, which results in tiredness. If you start your day with a cup of cappuccino with sugar, you might feel sleepy again after a short period of time. This happens because our body produces insulin to offset the sugar, causing your blood glucose levels to drop, which results in a lack of energy and anxiety.
2. Your body may lose essential minerals more quickly.
Having your regular dose of coffee early in the morning can cause you to lose many essential vitamins and minerals. It can sabotage the absorption of iron, magnesium, and B vitamins which are vital to our nervous system. Too much caffeine can also leach calcium from your bones, making them weak and brittle.
3. It may upset your stomach.
While your beloved beverage will help you to wake up in the morning, it may also give you the urge to use the bathroom more often. In fact, some medical experts even recommend drinking coffee as a way to prepare for certain exams. Coffee activates our nervous system, which in turn affects the colon and may cause diarrhea. Many people also like adding milk or cream to their morning cup of java, and because most of us have difficulty digesting lactose, it may cause stomach discomfort as well.
4. It may lead to weight gain.
Although black coffee may help you burn fat, it can also upset your healthy sleep patterns. When you don’t get enough sleep, you tend to feel hungrier and have more cravings for sweet snacks. Many coffee beverages, like popular sweetened blends, are packed with sugar and calories and might cause you to gain extra pounds.
5. It can worsen anxiety.
When you wake up in the morning, your stress hormones levels are usually at their highest. Because caffeine is a stimulant, it gives your body a jittery effect and can even trigger anxiety attacks for some people.
6. It can dry out your skin.
Because coffee makes you use the restroom more often, it dehydrates your body. When you become dehydrated, it’s harder for toxins to exit the body through your skin. This, in turn, dries the skin out and makes it more vulnerable to various problems, like premature wrinkles.
7. It may raise your blood sugar level.
Your morning cup of coffee makes it harder for your cells to regulate blood sugar, which can lead to various diseases. High blood sugar, in turn, can lead to weight gain and even raise your risk of skin infections.
When do you usually drink your first cup of coffee? Have you noticed any of these side effects?
Preview photo credit Shutterstock.com
All My Life My Father Blamed Me for My Mother’s Passing, Then He Gets Taught a Lesson – Story of the Day
I grew up believing that my father blamed me for my mother’s death but the truth was heartbreaking.
I never knew my mother, and my father never spoke about her. All I knew was that she had been very beautiful, because of the picture that hung on my father’s study wall, and that she had died very young.
My father was a sad man, a quiet and distant man. I wanted him to notice me, and to love me, but he never did. He rarely spoke to me beyond the perfunctory hello and goodbye, good morning and goodnight. I would have given anything for him to sweep me into his arms and tell me he loved me.
The shadow of my mother’s death followed me my whole life | Source: Shutterstock.com
This strange and strained relationship with my father continued until I was 18, and by then I was a sad and lonely young woman who believed my father hated me. If my father didn’t love me, who would?
But the answer to all my questions was about to be delivered in the most painful and cruel way. My father was hosting a party for his business associates, and among them was a woman whom I knew slightly.
If you don’t leave the past behind you, you deny yourself a future.
I had the feeling that she and my father had a past together — or at least that she wished they did. She greeted me and we started chatting — inconsequential talk about nothing special — and my father walked by.
I gave him my best smile, but he immediately glanced away. The woman saw it all. “Do you know why?” she asked.
I grew up feeling that my father hated me | Source: Unsplash
“Why what?” I asked, confused.
“Why he hates you,” she said.
“My father doesn’t hate me!” I exclaimed. “He’s just not a very demonstrative man.”
“So you don’t know…” she smiled. It was the ugliest smile I’d ever seen. I was about to walk away when she said, “He believes you killed your mother, Karen.”
One day at a party someone told me the truth | Source: Unsplash
I stopped in my tracks. “What?” I gasped.
“Your mother died giving birth to you, surely you know that?” she said.
“No…” I answered. “No, I didn’t know.” I turned my back on her and went looking for my grandmother, my father’s mother, the woman who’d raised me and never told me about my mother’s death.
“How did my mother die?” I asked her angrily. “Was it in childbirth?”
My mother had died in childbirth | Source: Pexels
My grandmother shook her head. “Please Karen, your father asked me never to speak of this with you.”
“I have the right to know about my own mother!” I cried. “I have the right to know why my father hates me!”
Then a quiet angry voice behind me said, “I don’t hate you, Karen, but your mother’s death is none of your business:”
I turned to face my father. “My mother’s death is none of my business? You’re wrong! I killed her, didn’t I? That’s what you think each time you look at me!”
My father blamed me for her death | Source: Unsplash
The expression in his eyes sent me running out of the door. I got into my car and drove aimlessly, tears running down my face. In my distress, I didn’t see the oncoming car changing lanes until it was too late.
I woke up in the hospital linked to a beeping machine, with a dull promise of pain twinging through my whole body. Sitting by my side and holding my hand was my father.
“Karen,” he said softly, “Thank God you’re alright!”
“Daddy…” I whispered, “you’re here!”
Tears came into his eyes. “Of course I’m here. I don’t hate you, Karen. I love you. And I don’t blame you for your mother’s death, I blame myself. When your mom and I married we were very poor.
“All we had were dreams and our love for each other. Then she fell pregnant and I took on a second job. I knew we’d need the money when you came along. I was working 16-hour days and she spent a lot of time alone.
“So one day when I came home she wasn’t there. A neighbor had taken her to the hospital. When I got there it was all over. Your mother had died, and I hadn’t been there for her.
The accident nearly cost me my life | Source: Pexels
“I didn’t blame you, Karen, I blamed myself. I was determined I wasn’t going to fail you the way I’d failed her, so I threw myself into my work, and I became a rich man.
“Daddy, how could you blame yourself?” I asked. “There was nothing you could have done!”
“I could have been there, holding her hand the way I’m holding yours now,” he said.
“But daddy…” I hesitated, “you were always so angry with me, so cold. You ran away from me.”
My father and I were reconciled | Source: Unsplash
“Karen, you look just like your mother, and each time I looked at you, my heart was torn apart by grief and guilt. It took nearly losing you to make me realize what I’d done. I love you.”
For the first time in my life, my father put his arms around me and showed me that he loved me. It was a new beginning for both of us, and I like to believe my mother was smiling down from heaven.
What can we learn from this story?
- If you don’t leave the past behind you, you deny yourself a future. Karen’s father was so lost in his pain that he nearly lost the opportunity to have a wonderful relationship with his daughter.
- The truth can heal old wounds and open the way to a new beginning. It was only after Karen and her father spoke about their estrangement that they could move past their misunderstandings.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who left his widowed mother homeless.
This account is inspired by our reader’s story but written by a professional writer. All names have been changed to protect identities and ensure privacy. Share your story with us, maybe it will change someone’s life.
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