Can Certain Foods Produce High Epinephrine Levels

A cup of coffee may increase epinephrine levels.

Image Credit: Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images You may know it better as adrenaline, but epinephrine is a hormone produced in your brain in response to strong emotions such as fear or anger. A release of the hormone causes an increase in your heart rate, blood pressure, muscle strength and blood sugar and serves as a means to get you ready for strenuous activity, or flight or fight. While stress response usually triggers epinephrine, certain foods may affect levels.

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Food and Epinephrine Levels

Coffee, tea, citrus fruits, bananas, chocolate, cocoa and vanilla can raise epinephrine levels. MedlinePlus says you should avoid these foods for several days before a catecholamine blood or urine test, which measures epinephrine levels as well as dopamine and norepinephrine, and helps diagnose certain kinds of tumors called neuroblastoma or pheochromocytoma.

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  references
  
      University of Delaware: Epinephrine
    
      MedlinePlus: Catecholamines
       




  references
  
      University of Delaware: Epinephrine
    
      MedlinePlus: Catecholamines
    




A cup of coffee may increase epinephrine levels.

Image Credit: Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

Image Credit: Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

      University of Delaware: Epinephrine
    
      MedlinePlus: Catecholamines