Caffeine provides powerful stimulant effects on the central nervous system, heart, muscles, and centers that control blood pressure, making us feel more alert and energetic.
As such, many of us use caffeine to prevent fatigue and help us get through a long busy day, improve our concentration and productivity, or to help us wake up in the morning.
Although caffeine has some much-desired effects, unfortunately, they come at a price. Adverse side effects from caffeine are common, and the more you consume, the more likely you are to experience them - so you might want to hold back on that fifth cup of coffee!
Besides anxiety, jitters, and energy crashes, many people also suffer from caffeine-induced nausea, especially if they’ve already got a sensitive stomach.
Why Does Caffeine Make Me Feel Sick?
Excess stomach acid
Caffeine stimulates your digestive system, causing it to work faster and produce more stomach acid than necessary 1. If you have an empty stomach, there is nothing for these acids to digest, which can cause nausea, abdominal pain, and bloating.
Caffeine also increases the likelihood of acid reflux or heartburn because it relaxes the lower esophagal sphincter, a ring of muscle that separates your esophagus and your stomach. If this doesn’t close tightly, it allows stomach acid to flow up into your esophagus, resulting in a painful burning sensation and nausea 2.
Diuretic
Regular coffee drinkers will know about the laxative effects of caffeine (although they may be reluctant to share this side effect!). A few sips of coffee can get you heading straight for the bathroom because it is a diuretic 3.
This means it stimulates the removal of water from the body, drawing it out of the bloodstream and into the digestive system so it can be excreted. Consuming too much of a diuretic like coffee can lead to nausea and diarrhea.
Additional ingredients
Most caffeinated beverages, such as coffee and energy drinks, are combined with sugar, artificial sweeteners, or milk, which can contribute to nausea. If you’re partial to a sweet, milky coffee but find you feel sick afterward, you may be lactose-intolerant or consuming too much sugar.
Artificial sweeteners are especially bad for your stomach because they can upset the gut’s delicate microbiome and promote the growth of harmful bacteria, resulting in gastrointestinal distress 4.
How To Prevent Side Effects From Caffeine
Despite the unpleasant side effects of caffeine, it is still an essential substance for over 80% of the world population 5. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize these effects while reaping caffeine's benefits.
1. Remember to eat
As discussed earlier, consuming caffeine on an empty stomach puts you at a higher risk of nausea. To avoid this, eat before drinking coffee or any other caffeinated product, so your stomach acids aren’t just sitting there.
Anything will do! But foods that are high in protein are best because they slow the rate of digestion and help reduce the feeling of nausea.
2. Drink plenty of water
While a small amount of caffeine will not dehydrate you, it still acts as a diuretic and removes water and important electrolytes from the body.
Drinking lots of water replaces the fluids that you have lost, dilutes stomach acid to dampen the harmful effects, and helps keep your electrolytes up.
3. Drink black coffee
If you get your daily caffeine fix through a sweet, milky coffee but suffer from nausea after, you might want to reconsider your choices. Try drinking coffee black and ditching the sugar - it might not taste as good, but nor does acid reflux!
Plant-based milks are easier to digest and easier on the stomach, so you could always experiment with different milk options.
4. Cut down
This may sound obvious, but if you are suffering from the side effects of caffeine, it might be time to look at your intake. The more caffeine you consume, the more likely you are to feel nauseous - simple!
Find your limit on how much you can consume before you feel sick. For some, this may just be one cup of coffee; for others, it may be four.
Replacing or rotating coffee with other hot drinks like herbal tea can help lower your intake while increasing your hydration.
5. Take a caffeine supplement
Performance Lab Caffeine+ provides a moderate dose of caffeine that effectively boosts mental and physical energy, focus, concentration, and productivity.
Combining natural caffeine with other complementary substances, such as L-theanine and L-tyrosine, it provides cleaner and healthier stimulation benefits with fewer side effects.
Conclusion
Caffeine is a popular substance consumed worldwide for its positive effects on mood, energy, focus, and productivity. However, these are often accompanied by numerous unwanted side effects, such as nausea.
Caffeine can cause nausea by acting as a diuretic as well as stimulating an overproduction of stomach acid, which can also leak into the esophagus and lead to acid reflux.
Caffeinated products also often contain added sugars or milk, which can further compound feelings of nausea.
To reduce the risk of side effects from caffeine, always ensure you have a full stomach before consuming it, drink plenty of water, ditch the cow’s milk and sugar or opt for a caffeine supplement with much fewer side effects.
References
- J. Boekema, M. Samsom, GP van Berge Henegouwen, AJPM Smout, P. "Coffee and gastrointestinal function: facts and fiction: a review." Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology34.230 (1999): 35-39.
- Cohen, Sidney, and Glenn H. Booth Jr. "Gastric acid secretion and lower-esophageal-sphincter pressure in response to coffee and caffeine." New England Journal of Medicine 293.18 (1975): 897-899.
- Marx, Barbara, et al. "Mechanisms of caffeine-induced diuresis." Medecine Sciences: M/S 32.5 (2016): 485-490.
- Suez, Jotham, et al. "Non-caloric artificial sweeteners and the microbiome: findings and challenges." Gut microbes 6.2 (2015): 149-155.
- Heckman, Melanie A., Jorge Weil, and Elvira Gonzalez De Mejia. "Caffeine (1, 3, 7‐trimethylxanthine) in foods: a comprehensive review on consumption, functionality, safety, and regulatory matters." Journal of food science 75.3 (2010): R77-R87.
