Caffeine and Arthritis??

Bottom Line:

Most of us wake up in the morning, brew a pot of coffee, and have a cup to start our day. Sometimes we are even a little low on energy throughout the day and think, “I want some caffeine to wake me up”. New researchers found that caffeine may not be helpful for arthritis sufferers. As little caffeine as the recommendation for pregnant women could cause an osteoarthritis phenotype in the cartilage in our joints.   

Why it matters:

Caffeine is the most consumed stimulant substance worldwide.. We get much of the caffeine we ingest from drinks such as coffee, tea and energy/soft drinks. In fact, in our office, I have even seen people that tell me they don’t any drink water, but instead satisfy their thirst with coffee or tea only. Some of our caffeine even comes from things we consume like chocolate. You have to remember that everything that we ingest has some kind of effect on our bodies. Caffeine is one of them.  We know that the toxic dose of caffeine is around 400mg and each 8 oz of coffee has around 100 mg.  Think about this the next time you are at the drive-thru to order a 32 oz specialty coffee drink.

“Overall, there is ample evidence indicating that caffeine intake negatively affects the physiology of cartilage, increasing consumers’ predisposition to suffer arthritis.”

Next Steps:

Does that mean that you shouldn’t have a glass of tea, a cup of coffee or some other caffeinated item in your diet? I will leave that for you to decide.  What is important is that we all, (myself included), try to limit or reduce our exposure to caffeine, stay active with exercise appropriate for our fitness level and eat a balanced diet. Finally if you are dealing with joint pain, see your chiropractor.  We have effective tools to help us reduce discomfort and help maximize function.

Our top recommendations for arthritis:

  • Stay active – even if it’s a little uncomfortable, there’s a big difference between hurt and harm.
  • Consider stretching, yoga, or tai chi- all have shown benefit for arthritis sufferers.
  • Eat a balanced diet.
  • Call your chiropractor – we have effective tools to help reduce discomfort and maximize joint function – even if there’s a little rust.

Science Source:

Guillán-Fresco M, Franco-Trepat E, Alonso-Pérez A, Jorge-Mora A, López-Fagúndez M, Pazos-Pérez A, Gualillo O, Gómez R. Caffeine, a Risk Factor for Osteoarthritis and Longitudinal Bone Growth Inhibition. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2020; 9(4):1163.

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