If you are having your one daily coffee whilst reading this, you will not feel too disturbed by the article. If you have a habit – you heard right – of consuming multiple doses of this drug daily, then you might want to use these words as a springboard to change. It all depends on how quickly you wish to age! This article is an attempt to transpose the Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts regarding the energetics of this 
beverage, into a modern day understanding.
Coffee produces an upward energetic flow of yang qi which is liberated from within the stores of one’s reserves. This movement is consistent with the sensation of energy increase. This movement of qi stimulates a general across the board qi flow and stagnant qi is also shifted, as is blood and fluids. Hence the feeling of exuberance and mood lift. Stagnation of qi is a vast subject, to be discussed at a later date, but suffice to say, it’s presence leads to low energy states and a feeling of stuckness or heaviness, in body and/or spirit.
So, in a nutshell, when one indulges in a coffee hit, one is actually exploiting one’s own precious reserves. These reserves are both a result of genetic inheritance and are also nourished by such habits as consuming a high quality diet, moderate exercise, good sleep patterns and a maintaining a harmonious nervous system. An unbalanced, driven or disturbed lifestyle will certainly deplete such reserves. Due to its depleting effects, coffee is best considered a treat and not a daily necessity. Continual energy depletion is akin to hastening the ageing process, and who is in favour of that?
Also one of the very obvious effects of coffee intake is its propensity to cause or worsen insomnia. This is a double whammy in regards energy depletion, if one is not refreshing the body and mind at night time and then over-stimulating it during the day.
This article focuses on coffee, due to its ubiquity as a social habit. Similar inferences can be made regarding the ingestion of any form of caffeine, there being many products containing it these days, marketed to younger and younger age groups which is a disturbing trend. We would do well to enjoy the beverage as a less frequent treat and explore other beverage with much more nourishing effects on body and mind.
To find out more about the Traditional Chinese Medicine approach to food energetics and its role in health promotion and preservation, please contact Michael Finn on 0411 537 394 or send him a message via the Contact link on the Homepage.