Coffee Sensitivity

exercise-lover

exercise-lover

Cathlete
I read the wonderful article on coffee in the newsletter. Made me think that maybe someone here would know about a weird problem I'm having with coffee. I never drank coffee until last year. Then I thought it would be nice to have a "pick me up" after lunch. It works great for that! My problem is that my mouth (specifically the tip of my tongue and the roof of my mouth) gets sore from drinking coffee. I thought it might be the coffee was too hot, so I started putting cold milk in it. It's not too hot, but my mouth still hurts. I only have one cup a day and my mouth is sore until the next day. Does anyone have any ideas about this sensitivity? Anyone else experience it? Appreciate any thoughts.
 
Thanks, 1nortell. Truly, it's not debilitating -- just annoying. I asked my doctor, and he checked me for thrush!! Certainly not that. Anyone else have any experience/ideas?
 
That's interesting, Desertambrosia. I was wondering if it was because I have been caffeine free most of my life (except for chocolate, of course). Was thinking it might be that I just have to get used to it or something, but it hasn't happened to you so that's out. Hmmmmm. Thanks for the input! Hoping someone else will have a clue!
 
Haven't had this reaction to coffee, but every time I eat a lemon drop or a sour candy, I get that very reaction, especially mouth sores on the roof of my mouth.

I have two thoughts. First, although coffee is not as acidic (in terms of pH) as things like orange juice or soda, it does register on the pH scale as acidic and it also has unique acidic compounds. Could be your body responding to that. Second, what are you adding to your coffee? Are you using sugars or a creamer or anything that you've not had before? I think my lemon drop/sour candy issue comes from the granulated sugars they are coated in.
 
Wow, Lisa, those are great thoughts. The acidic content might be causing it, I guess. I don't drink OJ or soda at all but I'll certainly think about this. Wonder what to DO about it if this is the cause??? I only put skim milk in the coffee, and I eat other dairy products so I don't think that's it (but good suggestion and something to think about). I can see where the granulated sugar on the lemon drops could be abrasive to the roof of your mouth. Too bad -- lemon drops are delicious!!! Thanks for your thoughts.
 
Certainly an interesting symptom. I would put it down to the acidity in coffee especially if you don't normally drink high acid beverages. Although caffeine is a toxic substance in high doses, the amount of caffeine in one cup of coffee normally only causes adverse effects in people who are caffeine sensitive, and symptoms include feeling jittery, heart palpitations and sometimes nausea but a sore tongue or mouth isn't typically associated with caffeine. Also you say you can eat chocolate which contains caffeine. Would be interested to know if adding milk reduced the symptoms at all as milk would help neutralise some of the acid.

The type of coffee, how it is roasted and how it is brewed all impact on the acidity. Coffee is typically made from two types of beans, Arabica and Robusta, and Robusta beans are more acidic than Arabica beans. So a coffee that is 100% Arabica beans should be lower in acidity that a coffee made from a blend of Arabica and Robusta beans. Darker roasted coffees also tend to have a reduced acidic effect than medium or light roasts. Cold brewing methods also tend to produce a less acidic coffee. However it may not be just the level of acidity but the type of acids found in coffee that are causing your symptoms. This could be the case if you can have other foods that contain acid such as salad dressings containing apple cider vinegar, vinaigrette or lemon juice.

Another alternative is to skip coffee altogether and instead try green tea or yerba mate. Both contain small amounts of caffeine but are less acidic than coffee.
 
Hazlady, you certainly gave this coffee newbie lots of information to consider. Thank you! I looked at the coffee package of the kind I drink, and it is 100% Arabic coffee (dark roast). I have always put skim milk in the coffee since I started drinking my one cup a day. I just decided to add more to cool it. The reason I went caffeine free was, when I was in college, I drank lots of caffeinated green tea. I did experience heart palpitations, which scared me enough to give up caffeine for 20 years! I do eat lots of salads with dressing, and have not noticed the symptom from vinegar. I wonder if it is the coffee or the caffeine that causes my symptoms? Wonder if it would be worth trying an experiment of not having coffee, but taking a caffeine pill (no doze or something) for a week or so. That might tell me if it is the coffee or the caffeine, right? Anyone have experience with caffeine pills? Needless to say, I have never used them!
 
Exercise-lover, I take it you didn't have this sour mouth reaction to caffeine with the green tea back in college, but it is absolutely possible to develop sensitivities later in life. I developed a sensitivity to yeast in my early 30s and I know how frustrating it is when you are trying to work out what it is you are reacting to. I had skin prick tests done to test for sensitivities which failed to diagnose it and it was only through careful scrutiny of what I was eating and drinking and then some more trial and error that I was finally diagnosed.

With regards to acidity, coffee contains chlorogenic acid. Other food items that contain this acid are tea, apples, pears, carrots, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. Do you know if you get the same symptoms from black tea? I have never tried caffeine pills but I would recommend that you try a source of caffeine where you have some control over the dose to test for caffeine sensitivity. Sensitivities are usually dose dependent, the more you take, the worse the symptoms. If you take a whole caffeine pill you are getting a full dose of caffeine, 100 - 200 mg depending on the pill, all at once. If it is the caffeine causing the problem then you are stuck with it in your system until it wears off. However, if you can split the pill and only take a partial dose, or take a caffeinated beverage and only drink part of the recommended amount then if you do have symptoms they will hopefully not be as bad or last as long.

Good luck in figuring this out. :)
 
Interesting discussion ... I'll just throw in one more possibility. depending on the brand of coffee and/or brand of skim milk, it could be residual pesticides/herbicides for the coffee, or hormones or additives in the case of the skim milk. Try the coffee without the skim milk, and try the skim milk without the coffee & see which is giving you the reaction. Then try an organic version & see if you continue to get a reaction. That would eliminate another possibility. Good luck (I truly enjoy coffee, but usually don't drink cows milk anymore unless it's from a local dairy known to use grass-fed, pastured cows with no hormones and no ultra pasteurization or homogenization.)
 
All of these posts are interesting. I am a coffee lover, but only drink it black with no ill effects (albeit once in a while I really enjoy a nice iced or hot latte.) In fact, as odd as this may sound, whenever my stomach is upset or I have heartburn a nice cup or two of black coffee helps tremendously.

Tea, however, makes me nauseous, jittery and gives me heartburn.
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@exercise-lover it appears as of yet no one has experienced the hurt you do on the tip of your tongue and roof of your mouth. I'm still really curious about that...
 
What great thoughts and information! I really appreciate all your ideas and efforts to help me figure this weird thing out. I decided I am going to try an experiment. This week, I'm going to try having half caffeinated/half decaff in my daily cup of coffee. I want to see if the caffeine is the culprit. Also, if I end up having to give up coffee (which I really don't want to do), tapering off would be easier. I remember when I gave up caffeine in college, I had a headache for 2 weeks! Don't want to go thru that! We'll see if the half and half makes a difference.
 
Debinmi, you raise a good point. I actually know two people who have become sensitized to herbicides/pesticides from living in rural areas where they have been exposed to aerial spraying. They now have to eat organic as any residual amount of these chemicals on their food will cause a reaction. They tend to get symptoms similar to hayfever and can also develop a rash. But as we are all individuals it is not uncommon for people to experience different symptoms from exposure to the same chemical.
 
So I was trying an experiment to see if it was the caffeine that was causing the sensitivity by cutting the caffeine in half with decaff. All I got was a continued sore mouth AND I was practically "comatose" in the late afternoon! So, I'm deciding it's not the caffeine. This next experiment is to test if it is the acid in the coffee. I don't know how to counteract that problem except with an anti-acid. Today, I had my regular cup of coffee and then sucked on a Tums. So far, my mouth feels BETTER! YAAAAAAAAY. Can any of you smart Catheletes think of a better way than Tums? Don't like to take meds if I don't have to, but I sure missed the caffeine in the afternoon. Thanks for all your information and suggestions! I think we're making progress!
 
The only thing I can suggest is to try cold brewed coffee. This is where you take medium ground coffee and steep it in room temperature water for 12 to 24 hours. I have never tried this myself but it is supposed to give a low acid coffee. There are a number of you tube videos around on how to do this. Once the coffee has steeped and been filtered you can dilute it to taste and either heat it if you prefer hot coffee or have it as an iced coffee.
 
Just thought of another alternative. If you are looking for a caffeine pick me up and can't handle coffee, there is a product called Onward from Run Everything Labs. It contains caffeine as well as a number of other vitamins and minerals and is designed to give sustained energy, mood enhancement, optimal focus and immune system support. The dose is one scoop to 16oz water. I have tried this and it is a good pick me up. You might want to check this out.
 
Hazlady, I'm interested in the cold brew idea. Thanks for that. I watched a DIY video on youtube. Do you know if they sell cups of it at Star Bucks or bottles of it in the grocery store? I might like to try it to see if it is better on my mouth before I go to the trouble and mess of making it. The product, Onward, looks interesting too. I see they sell it on Amazon. Glad to know about it. Thanks. The Tums helps initially, but after about 2 hours, I need to take another one. That may not be a great option. At least I was awake all afternoon with lots of energy to get stuff done!
 
I live in New Zealand so I am not too sure what is available where you are. We do have Starbucks here and they serve a cold brew coffee as an iced coffee. We don't have Walmart here but I checked their American website and they also have some brands of cold brew coffee. Cold brew coffee is gaining in popularity so it shouldn't be too hard to find.
 
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