3 Ways to Prevent Coffee Heartburn

This is a guest post from our friends at Camano Island Coffee. You can find the original post here.

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All too often, I hear people say ‘I can’t drink coffee because it gives me heartburn!’ Yes, acid reflux is a real problem that many people experience after drinking coffee. However, not all coffee is created equal!  Many people associate their heartburn problem with coffee as a whole, not realizing that there are very specific reasons that a particular brand of coffee causes it.

In fact, by following these 3 Ways to Prevent Coffee Heartburn it’s quite possible to drink coffee and be worry-free about heartburn and acid reflux.

1. Prevent Coffee Heartburn By Getting a Safe Amount of Caffeine

A big player in the cause of acid reflux is overcaffeination. When your caffeine intake is too high, the muscle that connects the stomach to the esophagus is relaxed.¹ When this happens, an opening is created for stomach acid to come up into your esophagus, which causes acid reflux. Ew! That’s pretty gross.

So how do we make sure we have a safe amount of caffeine? Most experts agree 600mg per day(4-7 cups) is overcaffeination.² For some such as pregnant mothers it’s advised to be 200mg(about 2 cups).³ According to Health Canada — the federal health department in Canada — 400mg (just over 4 cups) is a safe daily caffeine consumption rate.⁴

By making sure the coffee you drink has safe caffeine levels, you can prevent coffee heartburn and enjoy your nice hot cup of coffee without the dreaded consequence of acid reflux. Keep reading to learn the best ways to avoid hyper-caffeinated coffee.

2. Prevent Coffee Heartburn By Only Drinking Shade-Grown Coffee

Did you know there is a difference between Shade-Grown coffee and Sun-Grown coffee? It’s not surprising if you don’t – it’s not something you hear a lot about. Why? Because Sun-Grown coffee is poorer quality, and much cheaper to produce!

Many grocery-store coffee blends use sun-grown beans to reduce costs. But, coffee isn’t supposed to grow in direct sunlight. By being exposed to the strong rays of the sun, it grows faster — hence being much cheaper — but it then contains more acidity, and bitterness. By clear cutting the forests and planting coffee in rows like corn it also removes the nutrients from the soil without replacing them and creates soil erosion.

Because they have less acidity, Shade-Grown beans are much less likely to cause problems with coffee heartburn. You should always look for coffee that is labeled as Shade-Grown, to ensure you’re getting the smoothest cup without the jitters and to prevent coffee heartburn

3. Prevent Coffee Heartburn By Only Drinking 100% Arabica Coffee

In addition to drinking shade-grown coffee, you should also consider only drinking 100% Arabica beans. So what’s the difference between Arabica and regular coffee? Well, there are two types of coffee beans: Arabica and Robusta. (Again, it’s not surprising that you may not know this, because it isn’t advertised by the masses.) Robusta beans are cheaper because they grow at lower altitudes, and they’re more hardy making them resilient to pests. But, the tradeoff is Robusta beans are more bitter and contain twice the caffeine content of Arabica beans.

What does this have to do with preventing coffee heartburn? The extra caffeine in Robusta beans makes you more susceptible to acid reflux and heartburn.

So what’s the solution? Drink 100% Arabica coffee – you’ll taste and feel the difference, and won’t ever want to go back to Robusta beans.

Many people give up coffee because of acid reflux and heartburn. But you don’t have to! Just remember to avoid hyper-caffenation by only drinking 100% Arabica, Shade-Grown coffee.

And if you don’t believe me, check out these testimonials from our customers below. They’ve discovered that Shade-Grown and Arabica beans are the solution to prevent coffee heartburn. Try our 100% Arabica and Shade Grown coffee and see if it works for you. You’ll be glad you did!

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