musings of a gluten free runner

Posts Tagged ‘coffee’

OK- so my biggest weakness is really the coffee. To be perfectly honest, it is not the caffeine that is addiction for me. It is the aroma, the comforting flavor, the way it makes me feel all warm and satisfied inside. It makes me full and over the last 10 years I have come to crave it more than food. Yes, that’s right. Sick, I know. I am an addict- I absolutely LOVE good coffee.

My Ayurvedic dosha is Vata, and these types of people tend to be hyper-sensitive to coffee’s stimulation and run a high risk of adrenal exhaustion. As one Ayurvedic text puts it:

“…getting energy from coffee is exactly like getting money from a credit card. Coffee pulls on the reserve energy of the kidneys and adrenals, putting the body deeper into biological debt. The more exhausted the client becomes, the more desperately they turn to coffee as a stimulant.”

I know all the risks & downsides: acid forming, digestive irritant, adrenal stimulant, pesticide use, etc. So I drink organic and mostly decaf. I know, I should KNOW better, but it is just so satisfying. The funny thing is that as much as I love it, Ian can’t stand it. He has an innate disdain for bitter. He hates IPA. And, while he does enjoy the aroma of the beans, he won’t go near anything with even a hint of coffee flavor.

Before bed a few nights ago, I my nice espresso machine and burr grinder off the counter, cleaned them and stowed them on a shelf in the garage. In their place, I set up the juicer. I figured it was a good trade. A healthy one. I hope it lasts- I just know it will get harder and harder once the weather turns more.

My plan is to limit myself to a cup of decaf french press when I visit the organic coffee shop near my house… which is probably 3-4 days per week. This place is the BEST! It’s called Ladybug. The owners are beyond cool. They use unsweetened soy milk and even keep agave on the bar! I just work so well here. I find it is much easier to concentrate than at home. And, OK, I just had a cup of decaf.

Yikes….. hold on a second….

Talk about a digestive irritant. I am laughing to myself about the irony of the situation…. I just had to literally get up and RUN to the restroom… hmmm. Maybe I will be drinking even less than I planned. Feeling pretty queasy now.

Over the years I have tried countless different types of iron supplements in multiple forms. There are liquids, capsules, tablets, and soft gels. Iron is available over the counter, by Rx, in natural food stores, and at your local big box grocer. They are not, however, all created equal.

As a general rule, I avoid tablets whenever possible. They are the hardest of the forms to digest and often leave me with stomach pain. I also figure that the less my body has to work to break the product down, the more potent it will be. I’m not saying that the liquids won’t give you a stomachache! Many of them surely will, but depending on the type of iron it contains- you are probably absorbing more of it.
(For me, liquid ferrous sulphate is like taking a black enema in a bottle- sorry to be graphic.)

Here are the best Iron Supps I’ve taken (and I still have a cabinet full of others!):

1) Floradix- This stuff is expensive, especially when you consider how much elemental iron you are getting per serving. However, it works great if you are not terribly low and don’t mind the cost. They even have a version gluten and yeast free version called Floravital. Gentle enough to be taken after meals, this was my old standby in college.

2) SSS Iron Tonic- Another liquid. I ordered a few bottles along with the liquid B-complex. I was attracted by the claims that it works better than injections. It surely did work for me, right away I felt my iron come up and noticed a difference on runs within a week and a half. It did, however, give me a very constant stomachache for the month that I took it. Although there are no gluten containing ingredients on the label, the manufacturer cannot confirm that it is GF…. which was enough for me to stop taking it.

3) Hema-plex- I know, this is a tablet… but it is a good one. There are tons of beneficial ingredients packed into this little pill. It includes other blood builders such as beets and greens, as well as vitamins that enhance iron’s absorption. Another plus is that one tablet has 85 mg of iron as an amino acid chelate! Hemaplex is also wheat and yeast free, but they do not say gluten free. The ingredient in question for me is the barley grass juice, while I know that it shouldn’t contain gluten… if the grass had sprouted before it was juiced…. then there is a small chance. Uggh. Click here for a link to purchase.

4) Gentle Iron- This bottle was actually the first iron supplement that I ever purchased. I was in college and severely anemic… I couldn’t keep my eyes open in class and thought I had mono. Looking back, I’m sure it was the celiac disease, because I went through six-week stretch of everything running straight through me. Ironically, I started to cut out anything with fiber, fruit, then veggies, then nuts, and finally I was down to plain bagels. And nothing helped! I even had to go to the doctor for stool samples! (they told me I must have had a food born bacteria, but that it had worked its way out). Needless to say my track season was literally in the toilet that year. Anyways- As much as I’ve strayed, I keep coming back to this old standby. It is even Gluten-Free. Unfortunately each pill is only 25 mg…. but true to its name, it is truly the most gentle.

If you don’t have a sensitive stomach, then you can go the cheap route and get a ferrous sulfate liquid or the super cheap route and get ferrous sulfate tablets. Again, you should see faster results with the liquid, but it might also be harsher on your stomach. If the cheap iron tablets are a bit much for you, there’s always the extended release option too.

How to take Iron:

My stomach is so sensitive that I only take mine at night before bed. I left my dinner digest a little first, just because I think the less you have in your stomach the better it is absorbed.

Take the iron with Vitamin C. Try it with OJ or an Emergen-C. If you take a liquid iron, you can even make a little cocktail.

Take your iron with a B-complex vitamin and make sure it contains plenty of B12.

Do not take other minerals with your iron! Minerals, especially calcium and zinc can block iron absorption. You’ll also probably hinder the absorption of the other minerals as well. Make sure your OJ isn’t fortified with calcium. Save that one for breakfast only.

Do not take iron with coffee, tea or soy milk. Caffeine is another substance that seems to hinder iron absorption. The same has been found with the tannins in tea (black and green, not herbal), and soy protein. Try not to consume any of these substances within 2-3 hours of taking your iron pill. This is also true with absorbing the iron from food- try not to drink caffeinated beverages or teas (herbals are OK) with meals.

Better get to the afternoon run. Cheers!