Why Does Coffee Make You Nauseous? (We Find Out)

You can consider coffee as a miracle drink as it can wake you up and keep your mind alert. However, the caffeine that it has can cause several problems, especially when you consume too much. One of these problems is nausea.

Coffee makes you nauseous because it is a diuretic. Meaning it causes you to exert water from your body. A diuretic can draw water from your blood into your digestive system, which results in nausea.

There are many benefits that you can get from coffee. Fortunately, there are things you can do to prevent yourself from feeling nauseous after drinking coffee.

Will Coffee Make You Nauseous After Consuming Coffee?

Mornings are not complete without a warm cup of coffee. It gives you the energy to kick start the day. Unfortunately, too much coffee can be bad for one’s health.

Moreover, it is essential for you to figure out if it is the amount of caffeine that makes you feel sick after drinking coffee. If you drink a cup of joe in the morning and it makes you feel sick all day, then your body might have a low tolerance to caffeine.

Coffee is a stimulant and is acidic

One of the worst feelings that coffee can cause is nausea. One of the reasons is that caffeine acts as a stimulant. For this reason, it encourages your digestive system to work slightly faster than usual.

Coffee also creates more stomach acid than your digestive system needs. Stimulating your stomach, especially when you have not eaten anything, can cause nausea.

Additionally, coffee relaxes your gastroesophageal sphincter, the opening located at the bottom of your esophagus. This opening is where the food you eat needs to pass through to enter your stomach.

When the gastroesophageal sphincter relaxes, it lets some of your stomach acids climb up to your esophagus. As a result, you will suffer from heartburn, acid reflux, and nausea.

Caffeine has diuretic effects

Another reason why caffeine makes you feel nauseous is its diuretic effects. It causes your body to excrete water from your body in various ways. As a result, you will feel nauseous.

A diuretic works by drawing water out from your blood and bring it into your digestive system. The process causes not only nausea but also diarrhea for people who have a low tolerance for caffeine.

The diuretic effect of caffeine also makes you urinate more often than normal.

The milk and sweeteners on coffee irritate your stomach

Sometimes it is not the amount of coffee that you consume that makes you feel nauseous. It also depends on how you are consuming it. If you like your coffee with sweetener and milk, that could be the reason for your nausea.

Artificial sweeteners can upset the natural microbe in your gut. Such causes distress to your stomach. If you consumed milky coffee and you feel particularly sick, it could be a sign that you are lactose-intolerant.

The Benefits of Coffee

If you consume just the right amount of coffee every day, it can bring various benefits to your body. Apart from keeping you awake and giving you energy, it also serves as an antioxidant.

In fact, coffee lowers the risk of various diseases.

That said, here are some of the benefits that you can get from drinking coffee:

Improves physical performance

Apart from stimulating your digestive system, caffeine also stimulates your nervous system. It also prompts fan cells to break down your body fat. As a result, the fatty acids become your body’s fuel.

In addition, coffee increases the adrenaline levels that you have in your blood. Epinephrine, the hormone that increases your adrenaline, is a fight or flight hormone. Meaning it prepares your body for intense physical exertion.

Provides your body with essential nutrients

A single cup of coffee can provide your body with the following nutrients:

• Pantothenic acid or Vitamin B5 – six percent of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
• Riboflavin or Vitamin B2 – 11 percent of the RDI
• Magnesium and Niacin or Vitamin B3 – two percent of the RDI
• Manganese and Potassium – three percent of the RDI

This amount of nutrients may be little. However, some people love to drink more than a cup of coffee a day. The more coffee you take, the more nutrients your body will get.

But it is still important to note that you should not exceed your caffeine limit.

Helps your body burn fat

Almost all the fat-burning supplement that you will find in the market contains caffeine. The reason is that it is one of the several natural substances that helps your body burn fat.

In addition, caffeine can boost one’s metabolic rate by three to 11 percent. For this reason, people who drink coffee may burn some fats in the process. But the effects can potentially diminish for long-term coffee drinkers.

Lowers the risk of type 2 Diabetes

There is no denying that type 2 diabetes is a severe health problem that affects many people. People suffering from this condition experience elevated levels of blood sugar.

With people who have type 2 diabetes, their bodies develop insulin resistance or reduce the ability to secrete insulin.

According to some studies, people who drink coffee have a reduced risk of getting type 2 diabetes. Coffee drinkers have a 23 to 25 percent risk reduction for this condition.

Protects you from Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease

One of the most common neurodegenerative diseases that older adults can get is Alzheimer’s disease. It is also the primary cause of dementia all over the world.

This disease can affect people who are 65 years old and above. Unfortunately, there is no known cure for it.

But there are things that you can do to prevent Alzheimer’s disease from occurring. That includes having a healthy diet and doing some exercises.

Apart from that, drinking coffee also reduces your risk of having the said neurodegenerative disease by 65 percent.

What to Do to Prevent Coffee-Induced Nausea

Nausea feels terrible. Such is especially true if you are a fan of drinking coffee. You might even think about giving caffeine up so you will never feel sick again.

But the good news is that you will still be able to drink your morning coffee minus nausea.

Drink black coffee or try different milk as your creamer

If you are lactose-intolerant, it is the creamer in the coffee that makes you feel sick. So, the best thing to do is switch up your creamer with plant-based milk. It is also ideal to avoid artificial sweeteners as they can irritate your stomach walls.

Consume food first before drinking coffee

Eating something before consuming caffeine is one of the best ways to prevent nausea. You do not have to eat an entire meal. Even a piece of bread will do the drink.

However, eating protein foods, such as eggs, yogurt, and cheese, can slow down your digestion. As a result, it makes your nausea worse. For this reason, you should avoid drinking coffee while eating such foods.

Drink more water

As mentioned, coffee is a diuretic. So, drinking it will mean that you are reducing the amount of water in your body.

Drinking enough water will help you prevent the harsh effects of caffeine in your stomach. Additionally, it prevents your body from losing its electrolytes.

Some people feel the laxative effects of coffee. Worse, it can cause diarrhea to some. For these people, it is essential to drink a lot of water as it will prevent dehydration.