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What is the best way to drink coffee for a super healthy gut?

Each time I share my cup of joe it never fails – someone is always asking,

How exactly do you drink your coffee? What do you think is the healthiest way to drink coffee while trying to heal your gut?

So I’ll give it to you straight today by first telling you that nothing goes together better than coffee with coffee. Amiright?!

Coffee is super subjective in the healing world. 

The coffee culture is strong, but even still it’s subjective in the gut healing world.

Drink it, don’t drink it, drink some, drink it with nothing added, drink it with a ton added, and on and on. 

I believe that there is no right or wrong answer for everyone. Coffee might work for you, and it also might not work for you.

Here is exactly what I say about coffee in A Gutsy Girl’s Bible: a 21-day approach to healing the gut (on page 57),

The only gut-health protocol that prohibits coffee is the autoimmune (AI) protocol. If your gut is not massively damaged and you know that coffee will not cause an immediate diarrhea reaction, go ahead and feel free to enjoy one small, unprocessed, diluted cup of coffee per day during these days. “Small” means four to six ounces (don’t cheat!). Choose unflavored organic coffee with no added chemicals, and ideally dilute it with plenty of homemade almond or other nut milk or coconut milk. Remember not to add sugar in any form If you really need a touch of sweetness, use honey instead of sugar. 

p. 57, A Gutsy Girl’s Bible: an approach to healing the gut

However….

As part of my complete 30-day gut healing process that takes you from where you’re at today to exactly where you want to be in just 30 days with no bloat, constipation and/or a massive reduction in all gut-health related symptoms — Gut Healing for Beginners: ELEVATED — we completely cut all cups of coffee for 3 days.

If you want my detailed process and the roadmap with day-by-day instruction, you can get that HERE.

Moving on….

So Do You Drink Coffee?

Yes, yes I do drink coffee.

That said, I have gone through periods when I have given it up for quite some time (i.e. where my 30-day process derives from). I have also gone through periods when I’ve consumed far too much coffee (enter adrenal fatigue). 

Today I sit somewhere in between those two which I believe is the best thing possible.

And the way I drink my coffee every single day doesn’t change much. In fact, it feels like healthy coffee, which you’ll understand shortly.

Best Way to Drink Coffee (super healthy gut)

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I’m breaking coffee drinks down into four categories because I never, ever, ever just drink black coffee. 

The reason is two fold:

1. I do believe that drinking black, strong coffee is hard on the gut (especially on an empty stomach), and 
2. It is hard. YES, Whole30, drinking my coffee black is hard. You feel me ladies?!

We brew drip coffee at home 80% of the time. 

This is what my coffee consumption looks like.

Coffee

I’m currently a huge fan of Equal Exchange Organic coffee and the Thrive Market Organic Coffee. I buy both coffee grounds and also whole bean coffee to then grind on our own. 

No matter the brand I choose, I always try to make sure that the types of coffee beans are organic because non-organic coffee is a heavily sprayed crop. (Learn more: Organic vs. Conventional Coffee.) Coffee enthusiasts should be super cognizant of this!

Beyond organic, the way I currently brew hot coffee each morning is by using 1/2 of the grounds regular coffee and the other 1/2 decaf. 

My husband and I have done a lot of experimenting over the past year, and drinking pure caffeine affects us negatively, so we cut back. Brewing with only 1/2 caffeine content seems to work well.

In fact, you might need to do this as well since caffeine can be a gut trigger.

Milk

For some, I use too much milk. Honestly? This is intentional.

Currently, there are two different milks I toggle between adding to my coffee each morning:

1. Aroy-D Full-Fat Coconut Milk
2. Elmhurst Milked Cashews

I drink my great coffee with a lot of hot milk (vs. a splash of cream), so technically it’s almost like a Cafe Au Lait. 

I drink it this way so:

1.  I don’t get a major caffeine jolt first thing in the morning. 
2. The milk can act as the perfect vehicle for the “other” things I add to it (see below).

NOTE: You might also need to drink it this way so that the straight, black coffee doesn’t hit your system in one hit.

Sweetener

Sometimes, although rarely, I skip this one.

That said, I always choose a natural sweetener like:

1. Monkfruit
2. Honey
3. LMNT (Chocolate Salt, Chocolate Caramel, or Chocolate Mint); BONUS: you’ll also be getting necessary electrolytes to start your day!

Too much sugar is never a good thing, but the good news is that with the way I drink my perfect cup of coffee you don’t need it.

Other

Now, here are are some easy ways to boost your coffee for the ultimate gut health benefits:

1. Collagen! It’s the secret for everything, right? I add a scoop of Re-Build into my daily coffee because it’s a great way to instantly add both protein AND collagen peptides first thing in the morning. Re-Build is flavorless which makes for a seamless addition to different coffees. Adding it to a hot drink will also instantly dissolve it. Perfection!
2. Coconut Oil (aka some version of “Bulletproof Coffee”)
3. Tummy Soothe. If you want a better coffee in an instant, add a scoop of immune-boosting Tummy Soothe to any type of coffee. Again, this is a flavorless powder and adding it into your coffee provides an instant gut-immune boost. 

Miscellaneous Things for the Coffee I Drink

​Here are some other things to mention as it relates to coffee, how I drink it, and things you might want to consider, too:

1. If I go to a local coffee shop and get black coffee, but the only sweeteners available are things like Splenda or Equal I will always choose some real sugar instead. The kind of sugar, for me personally, does matter.
2. ….but the other 20% of time (usually when out and about or at someone else’s house), I drink lattes or something other than straight coffee. Vanilla Lattes are actually my favorite. When I order them it’s always with almond or coconut milk. If they only have dairy milk or soy, I skip it. I also enjoy Matcha, Cafe Au Laits, Espresso, Iced Coffee, and Cappuccinos.
3. I love making Dalgona coffee with instant coffee. I even have a healthy way to make this as well, which you can get the recipe for HERE.
4. Maybe not important to you, but it is to me; I use an eco-friendly paper filter. If You Care has a high-quality #4 filter.
5. Don’t use tap water when making your coffee at home if you’re looking for the highest-quality coffee for gut health. We have an AquaTru and that’s the water I use.
6. You can make your own homemade coffee creamer with THESE ideas (perfect for ice cubes trays).

I began learning…

quite some time ago that in order to fully heal we must live life.

For me, enjoying the daily coffee is one of those ways I just live my life without worrying about all the contradictory health claims about it.

In fact, a pipe dream has always been to open my own coffee shop-ish of sorts one day. We could name it…..

Gut You Some Coffee, Darling 🙂

For now, coffee is not just an acquired taste, it is one of those very simple life pleasures. 

It always will be.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

1. Lavender Coffee Recipe for One
2. Paleo Coffee Popsicle Recipe
3. Weaning Off Coffee

Xox,
SKH