There are few things worse than being overcome with a wave of nausea as you’re getting ready to walk out the door to start your day. It’s an uncomfortable feeling that can leave you overwhelmed and it can become a serious roadblock in your busy schedule.
To make matters worse, it could be your morning cup of coffee, one of the most enjoyable parts of your morning routine, that’s at the root of the problem. Can coffee make you nauseous? Yes, it can, but fortunately, you can make changes that will reduce the chances that your favorite beverage can throw a wrench into your busy day.
Drink Plenty of Water
Coffee nausea can be the result of a combination of factors and one of them is dehydration. The popular beverage is a mild diuretic – for most people that isn’t a big deal, but for others, it can lead to dehydration. When you become dehydrated you can experience a whole range of unwanted symptoms and one of them is nausea – that’s why it’s important to make sure a glass of water is the first thing you drink in the morning. After that, your morning coffee should be a lot easier for your system to digest.
Don’t Skip Breakfast
The temptation to skip breakfast when you have a busy day ahead of you may be understandable, but it’s also a mistake. Not only does that bowl of cereal or piece of toast give you the fuel to get your morning moving in the right direction, but it also helps to absorb that morning cup of coffee and dilute the effects of the caffeine in it. You’ll still get the jolt you’re looking for, but you won’t get the nausea after drinking coffee that sometimes comes along with it.
Try Decaf Instead
We may think of decaffeinated coffee as completely caffeine-free, but it’s not – it’s just easier to say than reduced caffeine coffee. If you switch to decaffeinated, you’ll still get some caffeine to get you going, but usually not enough to cause many of the unwanted side effects of coffee such as nausea. So next time when you’re thinking coffee makes me nauseous, consider the switch to decaf.
No More than One or Two Cups
If coffee makes you nauseous all of a sudden it’s probably because you’ve had one too many cups. The source of many of the negative side effects associated with coffee is the caffeine and if you’re experiencing issues it’s almost always because you’ve drunk too much.
The recommended daily amount of caffeine for the average adult is no more than 400 milligrams. That’s the equivalent of about 4 cups of coffee, although even that may be too much for some people. The best approach is to experiment with your daily quota of coffee. If you find 4 cups makes you nauseous even on a full stomach, cut back to 1 or 2 cups until you find your comfort zone.