i had a massive caffeine addiction i think...kinda thought my grumpiness was just down to me! but it wasn't http://www.caffeinefreeliving.com is my site...tells you how i quit. do it! im so chilled out now but no less driven...loving the feeling!
Caffeine WAS a drug of choice for me. I loved it. Shortly after I got sober from alcohol I wanted to quit smoking. I decided to write down when I smoked. Come to find out I smoked and drank coffee together. I used to joke that coffee and cigarettes were my breakfast. I tried to quit smoking several times to no avail. That's when I decided to stop coffee and ALL caffeine. During my prep to quit I asked myself "how in the world will wake up in the morning without coffee?" I told myself that I must endure and wait and see how it plays out. For the first few days and weeks I suffered headaches, anxiety and was jittery. I drank water.. a lot of it!! Eventually the urges went away.
Caffeine is a drug. It alters your bodies energy.
I now wake up feeling refreshed EVERYDAY!! I don't need caffeine to boost me up. A year after I stopped caffeine, I quit smoking. That was 18 or 19 years ago.
David
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Well, you came back with logical ways to quit the dependence on caffeine.
Now I have to decide, am I one of those people affected adversely by the substance, by anxiety, depression, and do I want to quit?
I can try and fall back on studies which show drinking coffee is not a bad thing, even beneficial. Whether those were funded by the coffee industry, I can't say. I doubt the amount I use daily is a good idea.
I wonder though, would I try to replace it with something else, like food, which was a problem when I quit smoking a long time ago. I have to think about this. :)
I do appreciate your exploring the connection and writing the information and links out so well. Now it's up to me.
Hello Mister Paul!
You make some good points here. I did find that you may be right that coffee can have some health benefits. This 2005 ABC report talks about coffee being America's number one source of antioxidants. However...if you read on...you can get this benefit from drinking one cup a day...and decaf. Also this point is made:
"Americans consume, on average, more than eight ounces of coffee a day, which translates into more than a large cup of coffee a day, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. So saying coffee is the No. 1 source of antioxidants in America is like saying that white bread is the No. 1 source of fiber -- there are better fiber sources out there, but white bread is the one we eat the most."
So...it kind of dillutes the excitement over that information.
There are other sources who say that coffee can do things like lower your risk for Parkinson's disease or even colon cancer.
Your best bet is to read all the research and make that decision. If the caffeine is not causing you anxiety or sleep problems then I can see your reluctance to stop drinking it entirely.
Thank you so much for your comment. I hope you are having a great day.