Natural Coffee Alternatives + How Different Drinks Affect Your Blood
There’s no getting around it: coffee is addictive. But at some point, it’s good to step back and take a break. Especially when it feels like you can’t live without drinking a cup of coffee.
After quitting coffee, what seems to result is a gaping hole that makes you feel as though you cannot possibly function. My husband gets super grumpy a few hours after he drinks a cup. So, I’ve been praying for a natural alternative to coffee.
Strangely, it came along serendipitously, when I decided to do an alkaline diet fast. After we received our Water For Health box, I prepared the alkaline jug and had a glass of water. What happened next was most unexpected…
Breaking the Coffee Addiction and Ditching Bottled Water
My whole family decided they preferred the alkaline water to bottled spring water – which was a huge relief. We were consuming so much bottled water that our recycling bin was always full, inspiring major feelings of guilt. So I was delighted to have found an alternative (without even looking).
After this happened, we invested in a reusable water bottle for everyone in the family. We need to make a ritual of ensuring that the bottles are filled up daily. Because handing a child a new bottle of water is certainly an easier way to measure how much water they’re drinking.
Work to be done there!
My husband Mike, on the other hand, decided to keep his water bottle with him AT ALL TIMES. He has been a coffee drinker (addict) since he was a child. Interestingly, adding in all this water was not designed to stop him directly from drinking coffee or energy drinks.
The result of crowding out the energy drinks and coffee, with six litres of water per day, meant he no longer felt the need to drink coffee.
I wondered if there was any scientific evidence as to why this was happening. So I did a ton of research and came across this video by AlkaMynd that sums it up nicely (AlkaMynd is a person, FYI).
In this article, I’ll discuss his mind-blowing findings.
Related: Alkaline Antioxidant Water: Hype or Does the Science Back It Up?
How Bottled Water, Alkaline Water & Coffee Affect Blood
People often drink a lot of soda, coffee and tea. All of which act as diuretics. The average person doesn’t drink nearly enough water and is often dehydrated as a result.
The test that AlkaMynd conducted – to check his blood when he drank bottled water, alkaline water and coffee – did a great job of illustrating how coffee affects your blood.
To make the experiment more accurate, AlkaMynd made sure to go to bed without drinking water. So that he would be more in line with the average person. He then tested his blood by taking a pinprick from his finger and looking at it under the microscope under a variety of conditions.
When you look at a drop of your blood under the microscope ideally you want to see each blood cell individually. Bouncing off each other and moving around freely.
When AlkaMynd tested his blood after a night’s sleep without water, his blood cells didn’t move much and were stuck together.
As you can see in the microscopic view of blood in the morning, without drinking water – your blood is sticky. Plus it’s not moving very much at all. Almost static.
Doctors are aware of this phenomenon and for this reason, they make sure that a patient is hydrated before taking blood samples.
10x, 20x, 40x and 60x Microscopic View of Blood, No Water
What Happens to Your Blood Cells When You Drink Coffee?
AlkaMynd drank 12 oz of coffee made with regular water. Ten minutes later, he took a sample of blood and looked at it under the microscope.
His blood moves around a lot more, but the cells are still stuck to each other, as you can see in the image below. This could be due to the fact that the red blood cells don’t have a negative charge on the outside to bounce off each other.
You can see when you zoom in that the blood has formed a rouleaux formation. The blood cells are clustered together in lines, stuck on top of each other. This pattern in the blood is also seen in people with inflammatory issues and a wide range of chronic illnesses.
Which makes me wonder why people think that drinking coffee is good for you? I have my suspicions that it is merely a marketing ploy for the multi-billion dollar global coffee industry.
The thing is, illness doesn’t happen overnight. It’s the end result of a prolonged process of continually treating your body in a particular way. I can’t help but think that drinking coffee is like practising to make your body sick. By making your blood form these rouleaux formations.
10x, 20x, 40x and 60x Microscopic View of Blood After Drinking 12oz Coffee
What Happens to Your Blood After Drinking 12oz Bottled Water?
Most bottled water is acidic and tastes like plastic. Especially if you’re not used to drinking it. Scientists have now found that drinking bottled water does indeed lead to a buildup of nanoparticles of plastic in your body.
90% of bottled water sampled by the World Health Organization (WHO) contained tiny particles of plastic. Despite this, when 12oz of bottled water was consumed and the blood was tested, blood cells were found to separate and start to move around a lot more.
As you can see from the image below of the blood samples, cells are happier and more buoyant when water has been consumed. Even though this was a more acidic form of bottled water.
10x, 20x, 40x and 60x Microscopic View of Blood After Drinking 12oz Bottled Water
What Happens to the Blood After Drinking 12oz of Alkaline Water?
When you drink alkaline water, you can feel it. The taste and feeling it produces in your body is very apparent. I’d explain it as more refreshing or cool than other types of water.
Testing the blood after drinking alkaline water illustrates how your cells clearly move around a lot more. A lot of research done in this area has pointed to the hydrogen that is surrounding the blood cells producing a negative charge. As the reason for the increased activity. The hydrogen helps the cells move around and bounce off each other.
As you can see in the image below, the cells are rounder and much farther apart. Signifying healthier blood.
10x, 20x, 40x and 60x Microscopic View of Blood After Drinking 12oz of Alkaline Water
Final Thoughts
When you drink alkaline water, you can feel it. The taste and feeling it produces in your body is very apparent. I’d explain it as more refreshing or cool than other types of water.
It’s clear to see that alkaline water quickly energises the blood. Which is in stark contrast to the rouleaux formations of blood cells being stuck together, found when drinking coffee.
Before, when we bought bottled water, energy drinks and coffee, we spent about £8-10 per day on drinks. Now we spend just £1.40 when using the Biocera water filter. It’s really easy and convenient to use, saves us a ton of money, is great for the environment, and also brilliant for overall health.
I think we’ve found the perfect natural alternative to coffee.
Written by best-selling author and integrative nutrition health coach Rowanna Watson, who has a passion for natural health. Rowanna is an expert in all areas of holistic health, plant-based nutrition, detoxification and personal development.
Water for Health Ltd began trading in 2007 with the goal of positively affecting the lives of many. We still retain that mission because we believe that proper hydration and nutrition can make a massive difference to people’s health and quality of life. Click here to find out more.
90% of bottled water sampled by the World Health Organization (WHO) contained tiny particles of plastic.
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