Impact Of Coffee On Women's Hormones

Learn the impact of coffee on women’s hormones and make an informed choice about whether to drink it or not.

Coffee and Women Hormones

Coffee who doesn’t like coffee, right? Drinking coffee is one of the favorite comforting rituals for many people to start the day. We live in a culture that praises and glorifies coffee, not only for its taste but for its benefits. We are an over caffeinated motion that can not live without a cup of joe. The thought of quitting gives us anxiety, and the fact that coffee is rich in antioxidants and polyphenols will have you catapulting back to one or two cups of coffee a day. And after all, coffee might be the only more bi food that you consume during the day.

Studies state that coffee helps lower the risk of developing type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer’s, among other benefits.

Then why would anyone want to quit drinking coffee on a daily basis, right? However, as beneficial as coffee can be, the fact remains that people react to it differently.

Factors such as age, habit, and age influence how caffeine affects us. For some, caffeine causes them to experience mental alertness or an increase in energy for hours. For others, it can either exhilarate the symptoms associated with an anxiety disorder or simply increase anxiety. More often than not, the anxiety caused by caffeine intake is often accompanied by feelings of nervousness.

However, when we think about our health and hormonal balance, drinking coffee is not always the best option for women. Granted, coffee can affect people differently depending on your health, ethnicity, or genetics. You might metabolize coffee differently.

My Journey With Coffee

In my own journey, I’ve grappled with anxiety and occasional heart palpitations after drinking caffeine. I also had a stronger body odor and definitely had issues with a short temper and anger. I always was in that fight and flight state. My partner was getting annoyed with me because I was always anxious and I was always pushing to go, go, go. My denial was strong and. I thought that I could not live without it. After all, coffee was my best friend, and I already quit smoking, so how could I get rid of my other friend who was always there for me? One of my favorite things to do while traveling was get my morning cup of joe at the cafe and enjoy watching people while drinking it. But I knew drinking coffee was getting less and less pleasurable for me. I had problems with my morning cortisol, and I was struggling with estrogen dominance at that time. Thankfully, I was always a good sleeper. Still, every time I had an afternoon coffee, I just couldn’t fall asleep because I was too anxious. I had many excuses for not quitting coffee. The main one was the failure because I never felt I was drinking coffee for energy. I’m the kind of person who has a lot of energy. I also have been coaching women about hormones, and the funny thing is that I went on a walk with my friend and had been sharing my struggles with coffee. She asked why she didn’t transition to decaf coffee. (me -eureaka, why I haven’t thought about it before!😂)And I was like a hum, sure, but I was already aware of the toxic process that is involved in making decaf coffee. So I started to do my research and found out the companies are using new technology to remove caffeine from coffee beans, and that was a bingo! Since I could still enjoy the taste of coffee. I started to learn more about hormones and read about the effect of coffee on hormones, and I asked myself what is more important for me- coffee or my health? And I just simply could not do it anymore and moved away from drinking regular coffee!

The relationship between caffeine and your hormones is complex and varies from person to person. While some can enjoy caffeine daily without issues, others may experience adverse effects. Hormones constantly fluctuate throughout your life, making it difficult—even for researchers—to determine caffeine’s exact impact on them. To understand whether caffeine works for you, it’s essential to tune into how it affects your body and recognize the situations where it might disrupt your hormones. Let’s explore the connection between caffeine, coffee, and hormones so you can decide whether to drink it.

How Caffeine Works In Your Body?

Caffeine helps keep you alert by stimulating your nervous system and blocking adenosine. This neurotransmitter slows your heart rate and makes you feel tired. By blocking adenosine receptors, caffeine can make you feel more energized.

However, how much caffeine affects you—and how sensitive you are to its effects—can vary greatly from person to person. Factors like caffeine metabolism and hormonal changes differ based on things like ethnicity, and your response to caffeine may shift throughout different stages of life. For example, if you’re feeling stressed or burnt out, caffeine may affect you differently than when you’re well-rested. These variations make it challenging to study caffeine’s exact impact on hormones. Moderate consumption is likely fine if you like and enjoy coffee and your hormones are balanced. Caffeine becomes problematic when it worsens existing imbalances, acting as an aggravator rather than a root cause. Below are some ways caffeine may affect your hormones.

Are You Able to Metabolize Caffeine?

Caffeine is metabolized in Phase I of the liver detoxification pathway by the CYP1A2 enzyme, which is regulated by the CYP1A2 gene. People with this mutation gene have a problem with breaking down caffeine and removing it from the body. When you have a lot of this enzyme, you can drink as much caffeine as you want, but when you don’t have much caffeine, you will be highly impacted.

Women with the CYP1A2 mutation might have an elevated risk of suffering a heart attack from drinking two or more cups of coffee a day. This gene is also involved in the metabolism of estrogen. So, if you have been diagnosed with PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, estrogen dominance, or struggle with PMS, you might suspect that you have a CYP1A2 mutation and cannot break down both caffeine and estrogen.

How Can I Tell If I’m Caffeine Intolerant?

Caffeine intolerance is more common than you might think, yet many of us assume we’re immune to its more negative effects. While most coffee or caffeinated beverage drinkers are familiar with that energizing boost, some may experience symptoms that often go unnoticed or are attributed to other causes. If you regularly feel any of the following symptoms, caffeine intolerance could be the issue:

Anxiety
Fatigue
High blood pressure
Insomnia
Short temper after drinking
Restlessness
Racing heartbeat
Excessive body odor
Blood sugar imbalances
Carb cravings
Digestive issues
Anger issues after drinking
Feeling “wired but tired”
Racing heartbeat
A hormone condition related to endometriosis, PCOS, or estrogen dominance.

Impact of Caffeine on Women’s Hormones

Caffeine and Cortisol Levels: Stress Hormone Spike

A cup of coffee in the morning can increase cortisol levels – your body’s primary stress hormone. Short-term cortisol is essential for life, but when constantly elevated, it can impact the adrenals and can lead to increased stress, anxiety, HPA axis dysfunction (adrenal fatigue), and chronic stress over time, especially when combined with other stimulants like energy drinks or soft drinks. Caffeine increases cortisol levels, and this effect can be more pronounced when other stressors are involved. Imagine you’re feeling exhausted, stressed, and sleep-deprived. You rely on coffee to get out of bed and sip it throughout the day to keep going, but you struggle to fall asleep at night despite your fatigue.

While caffeine seems helpful now, it may actually contribute to the problem. Its stimulating effects on the central nervous system combined with elevated cortisol create a perfect storm for HPA axis dysregulation, the body’s stress-response system.

Some research suggests that regular coffee drinkers experience a lower cortisol spike compared to those who rarely consume caffeine, but the increase is still there. Additionally, caffeine can intensify your body’s normal cortisol response to stress, meaning if you’re already stressed, caffeine will increase cortisol.

Consistently high cortisol disrupts hormonal balance, making you feel fatigued and irritable.

Substitute Tip: Try swapping your morning coffee with green tea or herbal tea. Green tea contains less caffeine, which can help regulate your stress hormones without causing a significant cortisol spike.

Menstrual Cycle Disruptions

Excessive caffeine consumption may interfere with your menstrual cycle, impacting estrogen and progesterone levels. Too much coffee during the luteal phase can worsen PMS symptoms and mood swings and even contribute to irregular cycles.

Substitute Tip: Opt for caffeine-free herbal teas like chamomile or peppermint, which can help balance hormones and reduce bloating and discomfort during your cycle.

Blood Sugar and Insulin Sensitivity

Drinking large amounts of coffee, especially on an empty stomach, can raise blood sugar levels and create cortisol spikes, leading to energy crashes and sugar cravings later in the day, which is not good for people with hypoglycemia (or low sugar levels) who feel shaky, jittery and moody when hungry. Coffee may also affect how your body processes insulin, making it harder to stabilize blood sugar and leading to weight gain. Not to mention that fluctuating blood sugar levels create sugar and carbohydrate carving during the day.

Substitute Tip: Instead of coffee, drink water with a slice of lemon or apple cider vinegar to help stabilize your blood sugar and maintain steady energy levels throughout the day.

Thyroid Hormones and Metabolism

Caffeine can interfere with thyroid hormones, impacting metabolism and leading to symptoms such as fatigue, cold intolerance, and resistance to weight loss. For those on thyroid medication, coffee can impair absorption if consumed too close to taking the medication.

Caffeine and estrogen are both chemicals that need to be detoxified by the liver. Usually, the liver has to detoxify the liver first before it can get to Estrogen. The more caffeine in your system, the longer it will take for the liver to detox estrogen. This leads to Estrogen build up in the body.

If Estrogen does not get eliminated before your menstruation cycle rolls around, you are likely to experience exaggerated menstrual-related symptoms. Estrogen dominance has been found to inhibit the conversion of the T4 hormone into the T3 hormone. Those suffering from some kind of thyroid-related condition, lowering caffeine intake

would be advisable.

Substitute Tip: To avoid interference, choose decaffeinated coffee or wait at least an hour after taking thyroid medication before drinking coffee.

Estrogen Dominance

High coffee consumption has been linked to estrogen dominance, a condition where estrogen levels are too high compared to progesterone. This can lead to symptoms like mood swings, breast tenderness, water retention, and weight gain, and is often exacerbated by caffeine.

Substitute Tip: Reduce your caffeine intake by drinking herbal coffee substitutes made from roasted dandelion or chicory root. These support liver function and help detoxify excess estrogen.

Effects on Progesterone and Fertility

Caffeine can lower progesterone levels, which is essential for fertility and maintaining a healthy menstrual cycle. Women who consume large amounts of caffeine may also experience more difficulty conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy due to these hormonal shifts.

Caffeine impacts progesterone indirectly by influencing cortisol levels and contributing to HPA axis dysregulation. When your body is under stress, it signals a slowdown in the production of sex hormones, including progesterone. This is an evolutionary response—your body prioritizes handling the stress over reproductive functions, essentially recognizing that it’s not an ideal time for pregnancy.

So, while that cup of coffee isn’t directly lowering your progesterone levels, the combination of caffeine and chronic stress can deplete your adrenal health, and reduced progesterone is one of the outcomes in the bigger picture

Substitute Tip: Cut back on high doses of caffeine by trying rooibos tea, a caffeine-free option rich in antioxidants that can support hormonal balance without impacting progesterone.

Testosterone

Research on caffeine’s impact on women’s testosterone levels is limited. Studies on men suggest that caffeine may lower testosterone, but these findings can’t be directly applied to women due to the complexity of our hormones and physiology.

Interestingly, one study found that caffeine may lower testosterone in women but increase it in men. Another study showed that higher caffeine intake was associated with lower testosterone levels in healthy, premenopausal women.

In short, the results are mixed, and whether caffeine affects testosterone likely depends on individual factors.

Exhaust the Adrenals and Creates Chronic Stress

Too much caffeine can overstimulate the adrenal glands, leading to adrenal fatigue. This can result in constant feelings of exhaustion, a weakened immune system, and dependence on caffeine for energy boosts. Hormone levels suffer as the body becomes less able to regulate cortisol production.

Tired adrenals often cause sleep issues, unexplained weight gain, depression, feeling emotionally fragile, and fatigue. It is not a good idea to drink coffee while experiencing adrenal fatigue because it only exacerbates the problem.

Substitute Tip: Replace coffee with adaptogenic teas or supplements such as ashwagandha or Rhodiola, which help support adrenal health and reduce cortisol levels.

Heart Rate and Blood Pressure

Caffeine increases your heart rate and can contribute to high blood pressure, especially in healthy adults who are already sensitive to stimulants. Over time, this could increase the risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases.

Substitute Tip: For a lower-caffeine alternative, try drinking matcha tea. Matcha offers a gentler energy boost while still providing a smaller amount of caffeine. It also supports cognitive function without causing the jittery effects of coffee.

Impact on Mental Health and Mood

The effects of caffeine on mental health are well-known. While a cup of coffee can enhance alertness in the short term, high doses of caffeine can lead to anxiety, withdrawal symptoms, and irritability. Young adults and perimenopausal and postmenopausal women may be especially prone to these effects due to fluctuations in hormone levels.

Substitute Tip: Switch to maca root powder, which can be mixed into smoothies for a caffeine-free energy boost that helps stabilize mood swings and enhance focus.

5 Coffee Tips

As long as you don’t have any medical conditions that suggest otherwise, the choice of whether coffee is good for your body is ultimately up to you. If you want to continue enjoying your cup of coffee, here are some tips to help reduce its negative effects and lessen the strain on your nervous system and hormones.

Always choose Organic and Mold Free Coffee

Coffee is a crop often sprayed with pesticides. To lessen the burden of toxic exposure on your body, it is essential to buy organic coffee. There are plenty of options available. When you drink decaf, make sure that the process of decaffeination does not use any toxic chemicals.

Grind Your Own Coffee Beans

It’s best to grind your coffee beans at home for the freshest flavor and maximum antioxidants. Freshly ground beans retain more of their anti-inflammatory properties and taste significantly better. You don’t need an expensive grinder—just a basic one will do the trick.

Skip the Sugar

Loading your coffee with sugar—or artificial sweeteners—undermines its health benefits, spikes your blood sugar, and can contribute to inflammation. If you brew your coffee at home, try adding cinnamon and a splash of cream for flavor. My favorite way is to use frothed full-fat coconut milk. The coffee is delicious, creamy, and a bit sweet from coconut milk. Plenty of delicious, unsweetened, non-dairy creamers are made with natural ingredients. When ordering from a coffee shop, opt for unsweetened choices, as the sugar content in those drinks is often higher than you think.

Eat Breakfast First

Starting your day with a protein—and healthy fat-rich breakfast helps stabilize your blood sugar and reduce cravings. It provides your body with the fuel it needs to get through the morning and prevents caffeine from hitting your system too hard. A balanced breakfast is crucial for hormone balance and can also minimize the risk of coffee upsetting your stomach.

Don’t overdo it!

Stop at one-morning cup of joe and try to avoid the temptation. Instead, try matcha or roasted dandelion tea.

How to Wean Yourself Off Coffee

Ready to give your hormones some extra care by cutting back on coffee? Here’s how to ease off caffeine with fewer withdrawal symptoms and maintain your energy levels:

Eat a Nutrient-Dense Breakfast

Start your day with a breakfast rich in phytonutrients, healthy fats, and protein. Try an omelet with organic, free-range eggs, spinach, and gluten-free avocado toast drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Or opt for a smoothie packed with nut butter and hemp protein. Make breakfast your biggest meal to give your body the fuel to sustain healthy energy levels throughout the day.

Use Adaptogenic Herbs

Rhodiola, ashwaganda, and ginkgo biloba can sharpen mental focus and improve cognitive function, making them great additions when you’re giving up coffee. Vitamins B12 and B5 are essential for maintaining steady energy, and many people are deficient. Maca root powder is another powerful plant compound that boosts energy and supports the adrenal system without the adverse effects that coffee can have on your overall health.