quitting coffee

[jpc]

Has anyone had success quitting coffee? Any tips?

I am an addict and I have several days off of work.

This music describes the rationale pretty well

[instantkamera]

tea

[zefrer]

Tea contains caffeine..

[keyboardlover]

That seems like a tough decision. I recommend thinking about it a little more. Maybe over a cup of coffee.



Seriously it seems like it would be tough. I've been drinking coffee every day for pretty much the past 5 years.

[instantkamera]

Tea contains caffeine..

exactly ... start with black teas, or even oolong. They contain more caffeine than other teas, but less than coffee generally per volume (depends on the leaves and how long/hot you steep it).

Then go to greens/whites. They have significantly less caffeine (but still some). Green teas are great, and you can get some rather delicious green blends. Use loose teas, as they taste better than bagged. Also, Im not sure how tied to the ritual you are. Generally, drip coffee(or store bought) doesn't really involve with a ritual, where as espressos/lattes and even french press have a very addictive preparation ritual. I find tea to be good in this way, when preparing your own loose leaf tea, you can sort of get wrapped up in the preparation to the point that you start to forget about previous addictions.

An alternative is red bush tea (aka rooibos), it is a very delicious drink that is not technically a tea and thus contains no caffeine. There are other "tisanes" as well that are similar (but I find those too gimmicky/fruity).

hope that clears up my response.

[hoggy]

You could try gargling with salty warm/hot water - works if you're feeling snackish, might help.  Don't go cold turkey - allow yourself a treat now and then.

If you limit yourself to vending machine coffee, you might have a reason to give up just there.

[Half-Saint]

Quitting coffee has been scientifically proven to be impossible

[zefrer]

hope that clears up my response.

Yeah, that makes sense I don't know tho, if you keep drinking tea you're still addicted to caffeine. With the way caffeine addiction works you are likely to start drinking more and more tea, so you might not have decreased your caffeine intake at all.

Me I like to get beans and make my own coffee. Get some smooth and light beans that won't have you shaking like Ray Charles.

[keyboardlover]

Why quit coffee anyway? I was under the impression that it's not really 'bad' for you (in moderation anyway).

[Fwiffo]

The reason you'd use tea is to cut off your consumption gradually. It has enough caffeine to prevent withdrawal headaches, but it's still a lot less than what you were getting from coffee. You can keep stepping down your consumption until you can wean yourself off completely.

You can do the same thing by just counting how much coffee you drink, then drink 1/2 cup less each day, but I think tea is easier.

It's not that hard to break caffeine consumption if you have time off of work. Other than the feeling to "need more coffee to stay alert at job" caffeine withdrawal is mostly just headaches, and it takes just a small dose to prevent those.

[jpc]

I'm thinking about going back to one cup per day, and then substituting diet cola.

Diet coke has 35mg of caffeine per hit, vs. 100+ per hit of coffee, so that seems like a good step down.

Coffee makes me anxious, nervous, restless.

When I first started using, it made me feel smarter. I can see all the code I need to write! I can set things on fire by staring at them! That effect vanished over time.

[Scarzy]

First of all, instantkamera, nice to see another green tea drinker, is there a tea forum or anything?

Luckily I'm too young to have ever been addicted to coffee/tea. However, I was addicted to coca-cola for quite a time which was horrible. I used to buy 1/2 cans every day, and my teeth have suffered for it (plus my pocket, 2x60px5=£6.00 a week at least). You may want to add up how much you spend on coffee, not sure if you go to starbucks or what.

It wasn't so much my teeth that made me stop, it was the fact that I had a caffiene addiction, and the fact that I didn't want to spend so much a month on a drink with such a high chemical count, when I can have water from the tap for next to nothing.

I then started drinking green tea, not brewing it correctly to start with, so thought it was horribly bitter. Started reading up on it and realised I was doing it wrong... oops. I think quitting something that's part of a routine is hard, but finding a substitute is what needs to be done, i'd take instantkamera's advice if I were you.

How many cups a day?

[jpc]

That seems like a tough decision. I recommend thinking about it a little more. Maybe over a cup of coffee.

lol

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Coffee itself isn't bad although large amounts of caffeine can be. The jury is still out on whether coffee will let us live to 100 or kill us.

I spoke to my doc recently and I've been having a ton of headaches for years. Finally he asked me to cut caffeine out of my diet as much as possible. And it has helped substantially. I went from daily headaches that were pretty severe (Excedrin Migraine) to once or twice that I take Advil for.

He said regularly timed caffeine is tolerated better by the body. For instance, if you have a cup of coffee every morning to wake up (which I still do), your body gets used to it and the coming down from the caffeine "high" gets lessened (your body compensates).

Caffeine is addicting and your body gets used to large amounts for the positive effects (the more caffeine you drink, the more your body gets used to it, the more you need to get the same effect) but not the side effects.

Anyhow, I'm not saying coffee is evil, or caffeine. If you like it, enjoy it.

[Scarzy]

I'm thinking about going back to one cup per day, and then substituting diet cola.

Diet coke has 35mg of caffeine per hit, vs. 100+ per hit of coffee, so that seems like a good step down.

Coffee makes me anxious, nervous, restless.

When I first started using, it made me feel smarter. I can see all the code I need to write! I can set things on fire by staring at them! That effect vanished over time.

Diet Cola is AWFUL for you. Don't do it. Detox on green tea/water. Most of us are dehydrated.

[jpc]

Diet Cola is AWFUL for you.

Even just temporarily, like for a couple of weeks?

I don't even like the taste of Diet Coke! That's part of why I was thinking it made sense as a step down, it should be easy to step away from.

'Course if it's my daily hit I'll probably start liking that taste.

[Scarzy]

Hmm, do you have instant or brewed coffee? I just wouldn't recommend going for cola anymore, I have a treat of like 1 can at weekends, but that's all I like to drink. I had a period of drinking one 2ltr bottle in a night of gaming, and you feel bad for it, trust me.

I'd really recommend trying to drink water. I tried the 'volvic challenge' of my own over summer (2ltrs per day, tap water) and I felt great, coupled with exercise. Water is amazing once you realise that hydration > taste.

However, I did urinate a lot

[instantkamera]

The issue with cola's are that they are very addictive in their own right, and are horribly non-nutritious.

I drink two teas a day TOPS, and those are greens (plain chinese green tips or gunpowder w/ mint (Moroccan style) or jasmine) or green blends (green walnut and green caramel from teaguys.com are my faves for now).

I can go without with no problems, even though green does contain some caffeine.

[didjamatic]

It helps to have a pregnant wife that projectile vomits if she smells it.  

Diet Coke is an easy replacement, has no sugar so you don't get Type II Diabetes and enough caffeine kick to get you through.

Or, go with good OJ or other whole juice, it's a really good boost in the morning.

[Rajagra]

I stopped drinking coffee and tea for a month just to see what effect it had. I didn't notice any difference at all. There is far less caffeine in our drinks than we expect. I think only those who are hyper-sensitive to it will ever notice any difference.

There was a great Auto Express article about how useless most coffee was for keeping you awake at the wheel:

Motorway coffee too weak for tired drivers

    New research shows motorway service station coffee is so weak that a drowsy driver would have to drink 11 pints to ward off fatigue.


    Of 25 service stations tested, not one served coffee strong enough to keep a driver awake for the recommended two hours, the motoring magazine Auto Express found. The weakest had so little caffeine you would need nearly a gallon and a half to wake yourself up, while even the strongest, a double espresso, would take half a pint to deliver the necessary kick-start.

    David Johns, the editor of Auto Express, said the research showed that government advice was "highly misleading". He explained: "There are more than 100 sizes, varieties and makes of coffee sold to hundreds of thousands of motorists every single day. The bottom line is there’s absolutely no way of telling how much caffeine you’re getting in what you buy."

    Dr Louise Reyner of Loughborough Sleep Research Centre, said her experiments on a driving simulator showed that 160 milligrammes of caffeine could revitalise a dozy motorist for up to two hours. But not one of the cups of coffee bought by Auto Express at motorway service stations came anywhere near that. The strongest, from Costa Coffee at Sandbach services on the M6 in Cheshire, had less than half the necessary dose, while the same double espresso from Strensham services on the M5 had only half the caffeine of its Sandbach counterpart. Dr Reyner said: "The problem is that consumers cannot tell how much caffeine they are getting. There’s nothing written on the cup or anywhere at the point of sale, so they can’t possibly know if the coffee will have the desired effect."

    Furthermore, price is not a reliable guide to caffeine levels, although the two cheapest cups, from McDonald’s and Burger King outlets, were in the bottom three for strength. An espresso from a self-service Coffee Nation machine at the Membury Welcome Break site on the M4 cost only £1.30, but it had a caffeine level 15 times higher than a £1.89 Costa Coffee latté from RoadChef’s Woodall services on the M1.

    This year, the Department for Transport launched a campaign advising motorists to drink two cups of coffee every two hours on long journeys to combat fatigue, as a quarter of serious crashes are "sleep-related". Yesterday, a spokesman for the department insisted: "We are not saying coffee is a panacea. It should be seen as part of the whole package of measures, including taking a rest."

    Mark Kitson, of Costa Coffee, said: "Caffeine levels can vary between coffee beans by up to 100 per cent. But we are not aiming for consistent caffeine levels - we are trying to make the best-tasting coffee each time."

[zefrer]

Depends on your existing consumption level Raj. If you're already addicted I guarantee you will definitely notice

Coffee is one of the most addictive substances known to man. Research has shown that people can get addicted by regular use within just a week.

[lyndon243]

Depends on your existing consumption level Raj. If you're already addicted I guarantee you will definitely notice

Coffee is one of the most addictive substances known to man. Research has shown that people can get addicted by regular use within just a week.

I agree with you dude...

[Rajagra]

Depends on your existing consumption level Raj. If you're already addicted I guarantee you will definitely notice

Well I have coffee in front of me almost constantly. I drink it all day long. But clearly I'm not addicted to it as I gave it up for a month easily. I must be one of the people with high tolerance to it. To me it's more of a 'comfort drink' than a stimulant.

[keyboardlover]

Hu sounds like a smart dude...would be a shame if he types on a rubber dome...

[Lanx]

You can quit coffee, you will NOT feel better. I've quit coffee for almost 2 years, everyday i wake up and take 2 advil cuz i have the post coffee quitting headaches. Yea you basically get caffeine withdrawal, and it can last forever. I haven't gone one day waking up w/o this same nagging headache since i quit coffee.

i've found 5hr energy to be a good supplement of not wanting to go postal, i take one when i wake up then another mid day or something. I do this everyday just to function, and buy 5hr bottles online once a month (a 5 box, 12bottle supply). You can't take 3, 5hr a day or you'll got batsh**, i tried it once and i felt like i was gonna hafta catch my heart.

i found this decent website, scroll down for cafeine withdrawal.

If you get regular 6month dental cleanings your dentist will be amazed, mine was and he said that the improvement was imense but in his 20years he's only ever had 1 other person quit coffee, he's seen more ppl quit cigs than anything (of course usually if you do cigs then you also drink coffee).

http://www.caffeinedependence.org/caffeine_dependence.html

[TexasFlood]

Has anyone had success quitting coffee? Any tips?

I am an addict and I have several days off of work.

This music describes the rationale pretty well

Quit coffee?  That's crazy talk...

[TexasFlood]

You can quit coffee, you will NOT feel better. I've quit coffee for almost 2 years, everyday i wake up and take 2 advil cuz i have the post coffee quitting headaches. Yea you basically get caffeine withdrawal, and it can last forever. I haven't gone one day waking up w/o this same nagging headache since i quit coffee.

i've found 5hr energy to be a good supplement of not wanting to go postal, i take one when i wake up then another mid day or something. I do this everyday just to function, and buy 5hr bottles online once a month (a 5 box, 12bottle supply). You can't take 3, 5hr a day or you'll got batsh**, i tried it once and i felt like i was gonna hafta catch my heart.

i found this decent website, scroll down for cafeine withdrawal.

If you get regular 6month dental cleanings your dentist will be amazed, mine was and he said that the improvement was imense but in his 20years he's only ever had 1 other person quit coffee, he's seen more ppl quit cigs than anything (of course usually if you do cigs then you also drink coffee).

http://www.caffeinedependence.org/caffeine_dependence.html

If you're really addicted, you'll probably get some withdrawal headaches.  Once you're clean and off, you can start taking caffeine again and get a bit more kick out of it, :wink:.

[wellington1869]

Quitting coffee has been scientifically proven to be impossible

they say there is the chemical addiction on the one hand, and the physiological addiction on the other. By 'physiological' they mean bodily and cultural habits. The habit of holding a cup in your hand, or identifying coffee with a "break", or the socializing aspect of drinking coffee with someone. Those are all part of the 'habit' too, and would need to be broken as well. This is why breaking habits is usually so difficult, its not just the chemical addiction (to caffeine or whatever) but a whole "nest" of addictions that have to be broken at the same time, else you'll find yourself 'springing back' to the habit.

I have a friend right now who is trying to quit. He's tried unsuccessfully several times before.  For me, I dont see the need to go cold turkey, so long as I'm not over-doing it.

[wellington1869]

anyone ever try 'quitting' geekhack? same thing.

[jpc]

However, I did urinate a lot

That's one of my motivations for quitting coffee!

Oh hang on... I'll be right back...

[Findecanor]

I am a coffee addict. I try to limit my intake to one or two cups à day, wtih milk. I have tried to quit on numerous occasions, but it has never lasted for more than a month. Each time, I have substituted the drink with tea or hot chocolate milk.

I sometimes get tired from drinking coffee, and I think more often when I have had coffee right after lunch or dinner. Coffee is bad for the intake of iron, and as a vegetarian I don't have as much iron in my diet as omnivores.

[hoggy]

I currently drink around 15 mugs of tea/coffee a day - and I sleep like a log.

I cut back a year or so ago to 2 mugs - with the rest decaf - hoping that I'd realise some health benefits.  I was motivated, and I felt proud that I had the will power so I only cheated by having a third once or twice.  After a couple of months I noticed that I didn't feel any better, and I wasn't sleeping as well so I relapsed to my previous level of 'usage'.

I agree with a lot of the advice here, switch drinks and come down gradually.  There are many flavours of tea out there that you could try.

Oh, and just don't buy coffee - if you don't have it, you can't make it.  If you must have coffee, buy some complete and utter rubbish - the cheapest, foulest, nastiest stuff you can find - supermarket own brands are a good start - but there are worse out there...

Good luck

[zmurf]

Bah! There's no problem stopping drinking coffee. I drink approximately 5-10 cups a day. But every year I go trekking for 2-3 weeks. And then I don't drink any coffee for that entire time. No problem at all. No brain pain or tiredness.

Why stop drinking coffee? It tastes great and is not illegal.

[lowpoly]

You can quit coffee, you will NOT feel better.

Not true.

I quit coffee 2 (3?) years ago and I feel much better. Caffeine makes me nervous. No caffeine, no nervous. I'll never ever go back. So, whether you feel better or not is individual.

Quitting was quite easy. Just tired for a couple of days. After that I didn't miss anything.

If I want a hot drink, I drink hot chocolate. Contains caffeine too in tiny amounts but no effect, at least for me.

[microsoft windows]

Geez. Sounds like a lot of you guys have never quitted smoking. A lot of people I know did..

[didjamatic]

The best I ever felt was when I didn't drink much caffeine at all, maybe a can of pop every week or two.  I slept better, was more focused, less stressed and definitely had more sustained energy through the day.  Stimulants produce artificial energy and then you crash.  It's a fact and there's really no way around it.  I quit coffee years ago and that was the best I felt, then I slowly started drinking more and more diet coke until now I'm drinking too much and my energy levels are lower as my intake increases.

If you just have caffeine once in a while, it's a boost, but if you habitually have it, then it's more of a long term drain than a boost.  Not lecturing, just what I've found to be true for me personally.  Do what makes you happy and works for you.

I also quit smoking.  It was the hardest thing I've ever done.  Well, except for looking at Steve Jobs tucking in his shirt without a belt.

[jpc]

Years ago when I was a college kid, working a minimum wage job at the campus TV station, one of my coworkers there had done all kinds of drugs. Drugs I'd never heard of. Shrooms, acid, cocaine, speed...

He said, "Never touch a cigarette. Cigarettes were the only thing I got hooked on, couldn't stop."

[TexasFlood]

Years ago when I was a college kid, working a minimum wage job at the campus TV station, one of my coworkers there had done all kinds of drugs. Drugs I'd never heard of. Shrooms, acid, cocaine, speed...

He said, "Never touch a cigarette. Cigarettes were the only thing I got hooked on, couldn't stop."

I've heard that, right up there with heroin and crack.

[TexasFlood]

Not true.

I quit coffee 2 (3?) years ago and I feel much better. Caffeine makes me nervous. No caffeine, no nervous. I'll never ever go back. So, whether you feel better or not is individual.

Quitting was quite easy. Just tired for a couple of days. After that I didn't miss anything.

If I want a hot drink, I drink hot chocolate. Contains caffeine too in tiny amounts but no effect, at least for me.

The best I ever felt was when I didn't drink much caffeine at all, maybe a can of pop every week or two.  I slept better, was more focused, less stressed and definitely had more sustained energy through the day.  Stimulants produce artificial energy and then you crash.  It's a fact and there's really no way around it.  I quit coffee years ago and that was the best I felt, then I slowly started drinking more and more diet coke until now I'm drinking too much and my energy levels are lower as my intake increases.

If you just have caffeine once in a while, it's a boost, but if you habitually have it, then it's more of a long term drain than a boost.  Not lecturing, just what I've found to be true for me personally.  Do what makes you happy and works for you.

I also quit smoking.  It was the hardest thing I've ever done.  Well, except for looking at Steve Jobs tucking in his shirt without a belt.

Years ago when I was a college kid, working a minimum wage job at the campus TV station, one of my coworkers there had done all kinds of drugs. Drugs I'd never heard of. Shrooms, acid, cocaine, speed...

He said, "Never touch a cigarette. Cigarettes were the only thing I got hooked on, couldn't stop."

I know you guys are probably right, intellectually I know it.  But yet....  It's time for another cup of fresh ground Kona! :wink:.

[ch_123]

Never got into Coffee. Spent a lot of time trying to get myself off Coca Cola. I get relapses with that stuff and all..

[Rajagra]

Why do people assume you need some kind of fancy replacement if you stop drinking coffee? When I stopped tea and coffee I drank water instead. It's a fine drink. You get in the habit of drinking it the same way you did coffee. You actually enjoy it!

Best quote I ever heard about canned drinks: "the water they contain is excellent." Everything else in there is junk you don't need.

[Rajagra]

Garilc tastes great, but doesn't smell too good to people around you.

[unicomp]

If one finds the smell (and the taste of the smell) to be nearly vomit-inducingly disgusting (and I haven't thrown up in at least 10 years - there is very, very little that makes me feel like hurling), is that generally a sign that it would not be a good thing to attempt to drink?

I should imagine so given that a lot of the notion of 'taste' is formed from what is perceived as 'smell'. However if it was sufficiently appealing then one might attempt to taste some coffee; in reality the worst outcome is likely to be vomiting and even this is fairly unlikely.

As for the appeal, I am not a coffee drinker however I do like the smell a lot, I conjecture that there is somewhat of a societal attraction. Coffee is a drink that is well known and seems to, in certain settings, have a positive social connotation; one can reach into the echelons of the successful and cool young business people by simply purchasing some ridiculous coffee-derivative from Starbucks, sounds good to me. I suppose that the vast variety in coffee and the method of preparation add to it a sort of class and perhaps mystique which other drinks, including stimulant drinks, fail to compete with. It is all conjecture, I do find it rather interesting that coffee manages to have such popularity, there must be a reason for this.

Garilc tastes great, but doesn't smell too good to people around you.

Arguably it is the intrusion of the rather pungent (but not necessarily poor) odour that is off putting. I like the smell of garlic however it is not nice to have to smell the pungent breath of a person who has recently indulged their garlic cravings; perhaps one is reminded that one must, in the course of one's social interaction, come into contact with the breath of others. I don't find the notion that this breath is coming into my airspace to be appealing however it is probably not noticeable unless some strong smelling agent is present within said breath.

[jpc]

Coffee is a drink that is well known and seems to, in certain settings, have a positive social connotation

I'll often ask a lady out for coffee.

Me: "You like coffee? Yeah, so do I. It really helps you wake up. Maybe we should wake up together some time?"

[Keymonger]

All this talk about caffeine has made me think. I drink a lot of black tea, sometimes green, and I love it. I had some issues with concentration so I once did an experiment to see if drinking tea had an effect on stuff that required concentration. I drank tea one day, and rated my concentration. Next day I drank no tea, rated my concentration again. It went on like this for a few weeks. I saw that there was no difference. But maybe I did it wrong... a day is perhaps not long enough for caffeine to get out of my system. A better experiment would be, a week tea, a week no tea, for a few weeks.

I do crave for tea lately, quite badly. My day isn't right without a few cups of piping hot black tea. Yum! I should also look into some medical research into caffeine. I suspect though that this isn't a huge issue, especially because tea has less caffeine than coffee. I never got into coffee.

[keyboardlover]

Betel Nuts!  You'll find them throughout asia.

Betel Nut Beauty Outside Taipai

Show Image

I had them mixed in some chicken that an Indian friend of mine made. They made me feel stoned.

[Rajagra]

Betel Nuts!  You'll find them throughout asia.

Betel Nut Beauty Outside Taipai

Show Image

She looks familiar. How did she serve the betel nuts?

[RickyJ]

If I don't get my morning dose of coffee I'll have a headache by the afternoon.  Day 2 is painful.  Carafe a day keeps the angry clowns away!

I have switched from raw plantation sugar to hot chocolate powder though, still sugary but less of it. :ballchain:

[nanu]

Never got into coffee. I'm revisiting green tea, however, after four years.

I always assumed that your inability to quit caffeine without torturous consequences is probably because your lifestyle isn't suitable without it (something else must change, be it less work/stress or more sleep).

That's what caffeine does right? Just acts as a clever substitute to suppress that feeling of impending death that you otherwise didn't fix (by sleep debt recovery most likely).

[1839cc]

I've been drinking strong black coffee since I was 3 years old. I never felt an energy boost or anything. I just really like the stuff.

I'd rather have no coffee than weak coffee. I've gone several weeks without it for that reason and never felt any difference.