1. Home
  2. Coffee Forum
  3. Coffee and anxiety

Coffee and anxiety

Hi all,

I'm trying to sort out an issue I have that occurs only when I drink certain coffees prepared certain ways. Maybe someone on this list can help. What I have noticed is that I experience a lot of anxiety after drinking coffee prepared in a French press, or as an espresso. Drip coffee does not affect me . . . as long as it is a dark roast. Medium-roasted coffee, even when dripped, causes a lot of anxiety (not jitters, but knot-in-the-stomach fear) after I drink it. It's not caffeine, as near as I can tell, because I can drink a lot of tea, a lot of caffeinated soft drinks, and my drip coffee has a lot of caffeine, I think, as I use a heft amount of a fine grind, and little water into a small cone, resulting in only a 3/4-inch amount of coffee in a demitasse cup. It's pretty strong -- and very flavorful, I like it. Two or three of these in the morning. Dark roast, no problem. Medium roast (or French press or espresso shots) and for the next couple hours I'm completely wigged out. Give me Valium!

I'm thankful that I have found a coffee preparation method that works for me; otherwise I would not be able to enjoy coffee at all. I reckon there is some compound or compounds that dark roasts don't have, and are more plentiful when coffee is not passed through a paper filter. What might they be? What, besides caffeine, can trigger anxiety?

-- Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott

71 Type 2: the Wonderbus 84 Westphalia: "Mellow Yellow (The Electrical Banana)" KG6RCR
Reply to
Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliot
Loading thread data ...

For what it's worth, I read somewhere that the darker roasted coffees contain less caffeine than the lighter roasts. The longer roasting process apparently causes the caffeine dissipate. Also, I believe that there is not nearly as much caffeine in tea and most soft drinks as there is in coffee. I'm not sure if caffeine is the problem, as you say. There might be some additives that could cause anxiety, but I'm guessing that these would be more likely to just give you a headache. I went through a bout of anxiety a while back, and I found that coffee seemed to exacerbate the problem. Now that I've gotten the anxiety under control, I'm back to drinking coffee without any problems. Let's hear what others have to say on this. Gary

Reply to
Gary

I believe you are right about that.

I can do quite a lot of my strong dark roast drip. If I overdo it, I get some jitters and a kind of yucky feeling in my stomach. Not the same as the acute anxiety that I experience when I drink a couple cups of medium roast, prepared the same way.

I buy my beans from Peets and Trader Joes. I would not expect to find additives in either.

Reply to
Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliot

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.