Questions About Coffee: Caffeinated and De-Caf

I feel silly that I have to ask this, but up to recently I never drank a cup of coffee or tea in my life. Yuck - couldn't stand the stuff! But as we all know, our tastes can change after surgery, and now I love the stuff!

But, unfortunately - since I never figured it would ever apply to me, I didn't pay any attention to the rules about caffeine/coffee/tea during my classes and pre-op learning. (Wish I had known!)

So... can I ask what you know about how it affects my pouch and my ability to maintain my weight goals? I think I remember something about caffeine causing dehydration... is that right? How does that work? What about decaf? Is that okay/acceptable?

I have found that a cup of coffee w/Walden Farms FF/SF/carb-free creamer staves off my hunger quite well. Or even just with a little Stevia works. De-caf works as well... but is it okay for us?

I'm at 2 cups with caffeine in the morning, and 1 cup de-caf in the late afternoon.

Anyone?

Good Morning! As we all know, many surgeons have different "rules" but mine allowed it after the 6 month mark when he was certain I was getting in enough water. His main concern is that it's a diuretic. Currently I drink two lattes a day. One is made with Fairlife milk and other with fat-free milk and I have SF syrup in them. I my coffee.

Thank you so much for your reply. And there is a difference between it dehydrating you, and it being a diuretic... thank you for the clarification.

So... is it the "coffee" that is a diuretic, or the "caffeine"? I guess I'm wondering if de-caf doesn't have that affect?

Thanks again.

I think it's the caffeine in it :)

Cool... thanks! So I guess it's okay to count De-Caf as part of my daily liquids, but not caffeinated coffee?

Thanks again for the advice.

Liquid is liquid. There are many studies to show that coffee has no diuretic effect on people who drink it regularly ie, every day.

Here's an article with study

I recall asking my surgeon at 1 month if it was ok to resume coffee and he was like "why did you stop drinking coffee?"

there's some that think that the acid in coffee can lead to ulcers but based on the coffee industry in this country I'd guess that has yet to be medically proven

My WLS Center discourages coffee consumption because the high acidity can cause irritation to the pouch and possibly lead to an ulcer. I would love for someone to debunk that theory for my coffee drinking started as a way to combat the feeling of extreme post-op coldness (extreme coldness is gone but the coffee remains).

Yep! That's exactly why I tried it for the first time in my life (I started with herbal teas, and it was a gateway straight to coffee)... I was caring for my Mom in the hospital during Winter and was FREEEEEEZING all the time. I just started making tea from the break-room to warm my hands, and now I'm a full blown coffee/tea drinker. And I still need it because my co-workers keep the A/C set on Arctic... burrrr!

So, yeah... I hear ya about the cold.

My center forced us off caffeine before surgery. I switched to decaf because I LOVE coffee. now I will drink mostly all decaf with a little caffeine through day.