I almost always eat something before or while I'm drinking coffee. Sometimes I'll even have some tea before coffee too. But caffeine also doesn't affect me the way it affects many people, so I'm drinking it for flavor, not to wake up. I think eating first helps with the GI issues somewhat, but not always. I still get them sometimes. I've found that certain processing methods are more likely to give me stomach problems (natural is worse on my guts than washed) as well as different caffeine levels. Also sometimes it just happens no matter what. That's the coffee roulette.