Hey everyone!

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely LOVE COFFEE! I love coffee so much!! First thing in the morning, I needed it to wake up. I used to drink my coffee to start the day, to get to work, to have a relaxing break. Enjoying an espresso after a good meal. The smell, the heat, the taste. Having a big mug of coffee to feel good on a rainy day. Yes, it was a comforting hot drink for me, an energizing and feeling-good companion. 

But I’ve lost it all due to pericarditis because coffee increases the tachycardia and the pain I have to deal with. 

A caffeine-free diet is a necessity for curing pericarditis. No coffee, no tea. Even coffee without caffeine makes symptoms worse. No more delicious coffee!

It’s so sad because I love to enjoy hot drinks. I finally found many ways to replace my beloved coffee with something more acceptable to my inflamed pericardium. Needless to say, I drink them all without the addition of sugar or honey due to their pro-inflammatory properties. Taste them a few times and see if you get used to these new flavors to fill your favorite mug!

1/ SIMPLE HOT WATER 

With, for example, a small piece of fresh ginger or a cinnamon stick (you can reuse it several times). 

2/ ORGANIC HERBAL TEAS

I mainly replaced coffee with organic herbal teas such as:

- Chamomile: for the evening, but I also like it for the afternoon. Relaxing and comforting, I find it almost in every restaurant or tearoom. Funny fact: my friends started to drink chamomile tea with me instead of coffee. It's a nice support to sip a chamomile while chatting with a good friend on an exceptional day out.

- Hawthorn: the best for the heart and when I am in a flare. I drink it at any time of the day, morning, noon, afternoon, evening. It is said to be excellent for both high and low blood pressure. It balances blood pressure and is smooth on the heart and pericardium. Recommend it 10/10 !!

- Nettle: very good for the kidneys. I like it to drain toxins out of my body. Usually in the morning or at noon. Maybe not every day.

I tried rosemary, but it increased my tinnitus and dizziness because it is high in salicylates (I believe). So be careful if, like me, you have bad reactions with salicylates.

3 / VERY LIGHT PU-ERH TEA

OK, I said no caffeine and no theine. I tried the decaffeinated coffee but it still caused tachycardia. Eventually I found a way to drink very light tea which was good for me. It's called Pu-Erh tea and I brew it for only 3 minutes to avoid the theine. It's good for digestion and the microbiota. And it doesn't increase my heart rate as long as it’s very light.

Green tea was not a pleasant experience. Maybe I can't digest it.

We're all different. It's a trials and errors process to find the right diet for you. I hope this blog post gives you some ideas on how to make the loss of coffee and tea less painful.

YOU’VE GOT THIS! ENJOY THE JOURNEY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!

Pericordially yours,

Vali