COFFEE AVOID

Several individuals have observed to keep cyst growth to a minimum, AVOID all caffeine, de-caf, green tea, white tea, black tea, de-caf teas, coffee, de-caf, cola, sodas, pop, and especially chocolate. Decaf coffee harms cystic kidneys. It really harms cystic livers by increasing liver enzymes and with both kidney and liver cysts, caffeine stimulates cyclic AMP and creating new cyst growth. Dr. Goldberger and colleagues noted, "The stimulant is also contraindicated in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, because it promotes cyst enlargement,"
What is so harmful about drinking coffee?
Coffee oils - cafestol and kahweol, bioactives are caffeine, the diterpenes and the polyphenols, most notably chlorogenic acid components harm by:
⇑ cholesterol, particularly LDL eventually leading to heart disease.
⇑ blood pressure, especially with PKD
⇑ cyst growth, especially with PKD and PLD
⇑ kidney stone formation
⇑ altered signaling to the heart, especially with PKD
⇑ dehydration which can lead to diminished kidney functioning
⇑ osteoporosis or bone breakage
⇑ excretion of the body's minerals
⇑ cyclic AMP production - signals cysts to grow, expand, and multiply
⇑ liver enzymes in healthy individuals. Increased problems for those with liver cysts.                                                             
   Coffee Caffeine articles
Researchers looking at coffee oils for a cause of gallstones found to be from eating tamarind fruit.
Cafestol Coffee oils raise cholesterol especially triglycerides LDL HDL. This is reproducible in healthy individuals. 2005
Coffee bean extracts kahweol elevate liver enzymes in healthy individuals. 2004
Coffee - Association Parkinson's and coffee
Caffeine - Abstract - Chronic consumption exacerbates hypertension in PKD rats
Caffeine - Full article - Chronic consumption exacerbates hypertension in PKD rats
Coffee - Caffeine increases kidney stones formation.
Caffeine's effect on PKD stimulates cyst growth by stimulating C-amp. Rapidly can lead to decline in kidney functioning.
Coffee PKD stimulates cyst growth in PKD kidneys by stimulating C-amp.
Coffee stimulates bad cholesterol NY times article
BP Caffeine- Habitual caffeine intake and risk of hypertension in women
Coffee caffeine alters signaling to the heart ADPKD cardiomyocytes altered signaling.
Caffeinated beverages should be discouraged because caffeine inhibits phosphodiesterase; enhances cAMP accumulation; and potentiates the effects of vasopressin on chloride secretion, cell proliferation, and cyst growth, at least in vitro (27).
27. Belibi FA, Wallace DP, Yamaguchi T, Christensen M, Reif
G, Grantham JJ: The effect of caffeine on renal epithelial
cells from patients with autosomal dominant polycystic
kidney disease. J Am Soc Nephrol 13: 2723–2729, 2002

Coffee caffeine alters smooth muscle calcium stores vascular phenotype in PKD Torres.
Caffeine increases excretion of minerals for 3 hours contributes to lessening bone density.
Decaffeinated' Coffee May Be Anything But
GAINESVILLE, Florida USA Oct. 12 -- Caffeine-averse patients who think they're getting a free ride by drinking decaf at Starbucks, for instance, should know that it may be laden with the stimulant, claims not withstanding. Allegedly decaffeinated coffee served at various outlets contained enough caffeine in just two cups to equal levels of the stimulant found in a Coke or Pepsi, reported Bruce Goldberger, Ph.D., of the University of Florida. Those who consume multiple cups of purportedly caffeine-free java should be aware that their cumulative daily consumption could easily add up to 85 mg of caffeine, the dose found in an average cup of the real stuff, the authors warned in the October issue of the Journal of Analytical Toxicity.

Coffee drinking gives a double whammy by increasing blood pressure and cyst growth. Cyclic AMP is a protein messenger that tells flattened envelope cyst structures to fill with fluid, enlarge and multiply. There are several published medical articles that point to this discovery. To download an article by the Tanners about caffeine and PKD polycystic kidney disease, click here. After reading the Tanner article I decided to test this out on myself, my favorite Guinea Pig. Eating only a small bite of de-caffeinated chocolate would send my normally low blood pressure sky rocketing up to 140/90 from its normal low of 100/60. Ingesting wheat products also has this effect upon me. My blood pressure would remain elevated for 3 full days and I would test acidic. I have chocolate sensitive hypertension. 

Researchers talk about individuals with Polycystic Kidneys as having salt sensitive hypertension. Mine really elevates in response to caffeine. Herbs, which I have found to cause blood pressure spikes are: ginger, hawthorn, licorice, ginseng, fresh picked off the plant green tea, raw dried cacao, ephedra, and ephedra like compounds such as the cola nut. If I remain alkaline my blood pressure is well controlled without any medication at 110/70. Email with any suggestions or questions. Several small clinical trials with potassium citrate (a strong alkalizer) seem to suggest that alkalinity is useful for lowering blood pressure.

I noticed one internet site spoke of increased intimacy enjoyment when eliminating caffeine.

WHAT DO YOU DRINK TO REPLACE COFFEE OR TEA? Most can be ordered from your local health food store or click on the pictures for Internet ordering. Some are available through Amazon.com Most are alkaline producing.

Brewed Yannoh from Lima foods has a vague likeness to a cup of espresso. I add an extra scoop of Yannoh to a French Press, pour boiling water over, stir the grounds, and press it. Drizzle a bit of tupelo honey if you wish it sweet. For a cappuccino like drink, top with a dollop of almond cream (recipe near the bottom page) and a sprinkle cinnamon. Cinnamon is said to even out blood sugar swings and to aide in lowering cholesterol.
for eliminating coffee from your diet, is to mix caffeinated coffee with de-caf 50 - 50, decreasing the daily amount of coffee until one is drinking only de-caf. Mixing roasted grains with the de-caf coffee until one is drinking only roasted grain beverage. Some juices that further diminish caffeine withdrawal headaches are: parsley juice, carrot beet juice, and other green chlorophyll filled juices such as wheat grass, kamut grass, spelt grass, or barley grass – all alkaline. When trying these beverages for the first time, think of your first virginal sip as a new hot drink, a new taste. Enjoy it for itself at that very moment, without expectations. When I first started tasting alternatives, I thought of them, as coffee and this did not allow me to relish them for themselves, just as they were. Now I much prefer Yannoh to any other drink. Yannoh instant –made by gentle roasting of organic cereals, their temperature never exceeding 98º, could be considered a living raw food beverage. a delicious and healthful cereal coffee. Ingredients: barley, rye chicory, acorns certified organically grown. A basic rule of macrobiotics is to eat the food that grows around you. This is why the formula in New Zealand differs from the one in Japan. Replaced ingredients commonly found in Japan by growers in New Zealand are: brown rice replaced by naked barley, chickpeas by marrow fat peas and adzuki beans by broad beans. This has resulted in a very fine coffee substitute, a smooth and refreshing drink, with the various roasted elements complementing each other with their minerals and flavors, blending and reinforcing a coffee likeness. Yannoh is produced for the Belgian firm Lima food. The Belgian firm founded by Gevaert in St. Martens Latem, Belgium was sold to the French group Euronature. This was then sold again to Belgium and now located in Maldegem, Belgium. It's a tasty coffee substitute made from organic rye, acorns, chicory and chickpeas. Yannoh is a nice tasting caffeine-free alternative to coffee. Place a few spoonfuls in a filter and add boiling water. Yannoh is also available by mail order from the Clearspring catalogue. I paid 1.79 for 500g. Clearspring also offer an instant version, which costs 2.99 for 125g.

RECIPE Ohsawa Coffee (Yannoh). 
Take 3 tablespoons rice, 2 tablespoons wheat, 2 tablespoons adzuki, 1 tablespoon chickpeas and 1 tablespoon chicory. Roast separately until well browned. Mix together and brown in 1 tablespoon oil. Cool and grind into powder. Prepare beverage to desired strength. Use 1 tablespoon to 15 ounces water. Boil 10 minutes, strain and serve.

Teeccino  order Teeccino - It is alkaline. Contains roasted carob, barley, and chicory root, grains, almonds figs, dates and beets. It contains 65 mg of potassium. Teeccino (pronounced tea-chee-no) is rich in inulin, a soluble fiber that enhances digestion and promotes regularity by increasing the quantity of beneficial digestive flora in the intestines and colon. Teeccino helps restore the body's natural alkaline balance which can be disturbed by the acidity of coffee. Teeccino comes in several flavors: almond amaretto, original espresso, vanilla nut and my personal favorite, java. I bought a small French press coffee machine that I take with me while traveling. It comes as grounds that can be mixed with ground coffee until one is drinking only Teeccino. Teeccino can be brewed in a French press, a coffee filter machine (use filters which are brown and have not been bleached) or infused with hot water. 


order Teeccino can be useful to quit coffee painlessly while avoiding headaches and brain fuzziness. If you are suffering from stress, adrenal exhaustion, and fatigue read articles about cortisol to understand how caffeine affects health, increases stress, and accelerates aging. If you are on a weight loss program, all diets recommend stabilizing your blood sugar by avoiding caffeine that increases your appetite and spikes your insulin production. Teeccino is the best selling coffee substitute in USA. Though we prefer the term herbal coffee (No one calls herbal tea a tea substitute, now do they?), we anticipate the day when herbal coffee brings as many people health and enjoyment as herbal tea does today.


Java herbal coffee – my favorite Teeccino has bitter notes in chicory and barley. This is said to taste the most coffee-like of all the various flavors. Teeccino java has a stronger bite from bitter notes in chicory and barley. This flavor is for regular coffee drinkers desiring a bracing cup without the complexity of additional flavors. Ingredients: roasted carob, barley, chicory, almonds, figs, dates, and natural coffee flavor.

ROASTED SPELT GRAINS – New Spelt Kaffee is made with all natural organic spelt, roasted almonds pumpkin seeds. When cooled to taste, stir and drink. Formulated to boost energy; Roasted for optimal health; Geared to aid weight loss; increased stamina via spelt grain.

SPELT KAFFEE – 1 cup of washed and soaked spelt grain. Roast in a cast iron skillet until brown all over. Transfer all but 2 tablespoons of the kernels to a bowl, and continue roasting the remaining kernels until they are very dark in color, but not burned. Remove the kernels and mix with the lighter brown ones. To make 2 cups of spelt coffee, place 2 cups of water in a 1-quart saucepan, and bring to a boil. Add 3 heaping tablespoons of the roasted kernels, and boil for about 10 minutes, or until the water is brown in color. Strain the brew, reserving the kernels, and serve. Add a few spelt coffee kernels to the old kernels each day, until some kernels start to fall apart. Then discard and roast a new batch.

Spelt (Dinkel) is the best grain, warming, lubricating and high in nutritional value. It is better tolerated by the body than any other grain.  Spelt provides the consumer with good flesh and good blood and confers a cheerful disposition.  It provides a happy mind and a joyful spirit.  No matter how you eat spelt, either bread or in other foods, it is good and easy to digest... If someone is ill boil some spelt, mix it with egg and this will heal him like a fine ointment... Spelt porridge, spelt bread and spelt coffee constitute the ideal breakfast.. Spelt is the food of the future.


–Hildegard von Bingen (composer, scientist, writer) 1133 AD

other beverages that you can prepare for yourself as an alternative hot drink are American Beech Tree Nuts and Chicory. Chicory is a blue flower with almost leafless stalks that grows just about everywhere that there is a road. The petals are blue and are squared off at the ends. Pull the white fleshy roots, roast until dark brown and brittle, and grind. Prepare like coffee. Use 1 1/2 tablespoons per cup of water.

KARA KARA – In the Philippines black, brown or red rice was roasted darkly, then infused in water to make a coffee alternative. In Germany they do the same with Dinkel or Farro (Italy) or L'epeutre (France) also called Spelt. In the US they are now roasting soy nuts made into a hot beverage.

Whole Earth NoCaf – roasted barley, barley malt, chicory, rye, figs.


Barleycup – roasted barley, rye, chicory

Prewetts instant chicory – soluble extract of roasted chicory plant. 

Caf-Lib the UnCoffeE – roasted barley, rye, chicory and beet.
Caffix - malted barley, barley, chicory, figs, and, chicory, figs, and beetroots. Product of Switzerland.

Roma order - roasted barley, chicory, and malt barley. This is another favorite.

  Inka - A traditional Polish drink made from roasted rye, chicory, barley and beets by Polish naturals company

  Caro- roasted grains. Mixes with hot water.

  Pero– roasted malted barley, chicory, and rye. Mixes with hot water.
  order from Lima Foods Yorzoh instant –made by gentle roasting of barley. Produced in Italy. To roast the barley, we grill it according to a procedure using hot air reaching a temperature of 170C. The barley is then ground into a powder, which is then mixed and air-dried.

  AVOID Soycafe – roasted soy beans. Just add hot water. AVOID with liver cysts

  AVOID Bambu – roasted wheat (AVOID if allergic to wheat), chicory roots, figs, malted barley, and acorns. Mixes with hot water.

AVOID Postum by General foods roasted wheat (AVOID if allergic to wheat)

AVOID Symingtons Instant Dandelion – Roasted dandelion root – a diuretic, AVOID with kidney disease.

AVOID MaCafe AVOID– Inca herb grown in the Peruvian Mountains – avoid with transplant as it enhances the immune system. Avoid with polycystic liver disease PLD. Maca might make liver cysts grow by increasing progesterone, which is said to relieve hot flashes.

Last updated Wed April 16, 2008 3:38 PM

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