Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are so very grateful for each other and each one of you here at Fern Life Center. I feel so blessed to have the line of work I have. I LOVE to come to work each and every day and work with the amazing people I meet here at the clinic. Thank you for being people who are ready to take responsibility for their own health and reality. I know it's tough sometimes when the flow of our culture tends towards foods that aren't full of life energy. It's that time of year when the air gets cool and crisp and the food choices we make start moving from cold to warm. Sometimes that means a warm cup of coffee is just what the doctor ordered. However, that's not always the right choice. Read on to see if it is for you. 

Caffeine...good or bad for you?

Well, as with everything that has to do with personalization of medicine, it could be either one. In Ayurveda, the kapha body types can actually benefit from a little caffeine every once in a while. However, pitta and vata people usually do well to stay away from it. What is up with caffeine and how do you know what is right for you?

 I have studied Ayurveda and functional medicine and come at this question from the standpoint of, "each person is different". What does caffeine do in the body? It's a psychoactive stimulant. That's why it's put in diet pills and pain relievers. That's also why, if your adrenals are not functioning well, it's bad for you. When ingested, caffeine increases neuron firing rates in the brain and acts as an "on switch" for the sympathetic nervous system.

 Remember the sympathetic nervous system is the regulator of the fight or flight response to stress. If it's turned on, and this can happen with the amount of caffeine in a small cup of coffee (200 mg), your adrenal glands will begin to release stress hormones that are sending the "danger signal" messages to be hyper-alert. This is the effect you are looking for when you reach for that early morning coffee-wake up and be alert! However, your pupils can dilate, heart rate increase (even to palpitations), your liver releases sugar and fatty acids, and your acidity level increases. With the increase of cortisol that is released by the adrenal glands, your body believes it is in danger. You will never lose weight or have sexual desire if you are in a constant state of emergency preparedness. Remember, it's not safe to stop and have a baby if you are a zebra being chased by a lion and running for your life. This creates a cycle of craving more caffeine (and usually carbohydrates too) in order to stay focused, leading to being wired and tired. Additionally, the extra glucose released into the blood stream when we are in emergency response can create insulin resistance and torsal weight gain.

 If you feel you need coffee to wake up in the morning please come in and get your adrenals and hormones checked. For women, this is vitally important if you are going to maintain a healthy hormone balance to take you through peri-menopause, menopause, and post-menopause in a healthy, balanced way. If you experience an afternoon dip in energy and brain fog in the afternoon and want more caffeine, you know you are in an un-sustainable cycle of adrenal-hormone imbalance that can be easily fixed.

Here's to your health!

Dr. Keesha 

Erin Dudley

The gratitude holiday, Thanksgiving, stems from the tradition of holding harvest festivals to give thanks for the bounty and celebrate all the hard work with the community. While the vast majority of us are not involved in the harvest anymore, we cultivate gratitude when we love what we eat and connect with our family, friends and community.

Our culture has severely lost touch of connecting through food. Instead, we eat quickly as if food were a nuisance to move on to our next task and run errands. We eat in our cars, in front of our computers and the television. We skip meals and forget to nourish our body! Our lives are so full that we neglect the most basic event, eating food to nourish our body and connect. Read More