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I've been caffeine-free for a week now, having successfully (and rather painlessly) eased myself off of coffee. I feel... fine? My energy levels are stabler. Quality of sleep has improved.
It would probably be wise to repeat this every few months. Can't wait to get back to enjoying the occasional cup, though. ☕️
Sep 10 · 4 months ago · 👍 cquenelle, shtirlic, innerteapot, IO, Captain, gemalaya, scops · 😄 1
Nicely done. It's good to regularly break the coffee habit to see how the body reacts to measure your addiction and see if you feel better. I store coffee beans in glass jars and if i haven't had coffee for a few days i start opening the coffee jars and just the smell of the beans ... 5 minutes later i have a cup of coffee in my hands ^_^ Chewing coffee beans is actually a healthier alternative to drinking coffee.
I'm interested in hearing how you managed to wean yourself off.
I've gotten off coffee on numerous occasions, most recently due to COVID in 2020 (I was sick for about a month). I've never experienced withdrawal headaches. I always go back, as I like the ritual and have ADHD with paradoxical; reaction to stimulants.
However, I don't drink it all day like many people - and I don't drink brewed cofffe, only a latte or two in the morning, with oatmilk. Even then, only when I make it or if it's really good. No starbucks for me - I often skip coffee entirely when I travel to less 'civilized' places.
@Addison Basically I just gradually reduced my caffeine intake over three weeks. I have a habit of doing calorie and nutrient tracking on my phone, so it was pretty straightforward to stay under a limit. Went from 3.5 cups daily average to zero.
Gradual reduction seems to work for me, going cold turkey has set off some fierce headaches in the past.
Nicely done. It is a powerful drug to the human system so cutting back is significant.
I would like to do the same with sugary foods. The problem I face is that I’ll be doing fine cutting out, for example, chocolate. Then I’ll have something like frozen pizza which is often full of sugar and this will set off very challenging cravings and body reactions.
I did decaf december a couple years back, don't know if I could do it now. Congrats on being caffeine free for a bit though!
@noaoh Thanks. My goal is to keep the streak going for the whole of September.
I found a decent decaffeinated ground coffee. It tastes soulless and thin, but at least it satisfies the craving for hot coffee-like beverages. Another acceptable alternative is hot cocoa, although it can get calorie-heavy.
That is great. Just a reminder that decaf is still a lot of caffeine, usually 1/3 or so of regular coffee! And green and black teas can have as much caffeine as an espresso (which is lower than brewed coffee, especially if you drink cup after cup...)
@stack Yeah I'm aware that decaf has some caffeine, although I believe it should be less than 10% of regular coffee. Unfortunately it's difficult to tell just by drinking a cup or two, and it must depend on the manufacturing process as well. The particular decaf that I have does not seem to provide any stimulating effects, but then again I don't drink it in large quantities.