Post: #51

I've been over 2 months now with no caffeine. I am now reintroducing it to my diet, but in far lower quantities. I think it should be possible to reap the benefits of low caffeine, without having to be tee total about it. A cup of coffee after breakfast, with the morning news, is one of life's great little pleasures. I will probably follow that by mid morning with a cup of tea, but I am going to try to keep it to a before 11am thing for the most part, and no caffeine thereafter.

Post: #52

maybe try switching to herbal tea. or buy in bulk a tea variety pack off of amazon that has both caffeine and herbal and when the caffeine is gone just drink the herbal. There is a lot of caffeine in black tea by the way

Post: #53

I was having some stress headaches and eye aches for a while so I stopped drinking green tea and black tea. Felt great.

I drink mostly 100% mint tea. Very good for the stomach.

Post: #54

I drink mint tea, a few sprigs of mint from the garden, the rest of the day. At this point, I've got rid of the addiction effects of caffeine, to the extent there were any. The reintroduction of coffee and tea is for pleasure, and the specific taste and enjoyment of those two delectable poisons.

Post: #55

I'm addicted to coffee/caffeine. Nothing like a cup to freshen my day and rejuvenate me in the morning. I don't really want to cut it out per se, but I might have to.

I'm finding I'm having trouble sleeping. The past two weeks I've probably been getting 4 hours of sleep a day during my work days, which leaves me less productive. But I need it in the morning to kick-start my ass into gear, otherwise I feel sluggish and lethargic.

Has anyone had any luck minimizing their amount of coffee/caffeine but still getting an adequate amount of sleep? Should I look into melatonin supplements or something like that to balance it out?

Post: #56

Switch from coffee to tea in the morning, and eventually you can drop the tea if you want.

Now, when I have the random coffee in the morning I'm way too wired and I don't like it anymore.

For the gym I prefer 100 to 200 mg of caffeine in a pill form instead of coffee.

Post: #57

I went on a bender recently and my kidneys didnt feel great.
I was still able to drink coffee in the morning and work out as usual but I definitely knew the damn things were resented.
Upon some quick internet searches seems I should quit the booze and the coffee for some time at the very least.
I started today replacing cofee with liquid chocolate and I plan to keep it during the day by using Mate...

Post: #58

(08-08-2016 04:20 PM)Mr. Scumbag Wrote:  I'm addicted to coffee/caffeine. Nothing like a cup to freshen my day and rejuvenate me in the morning. I don't really want to cut it out per se, but I might have to.

I'm finding I'm having trouble sleeping. The past two weeks I've probably been getting 4 hours of sleep a day during my work days, which leaves me less productive. But I need it in the morning to kick-start my ass into gear, otherwise I feel sluggish and lethargic.

Has anyone had any luck minimizing their amount of coffee/caffeine but still getting an adequate amount of sleep? Should I look into melatonin supplements or something like that to balance it out?

I was in the same place about a year ago. What worked for me was dropping coffee after noon and switching to tea. I can drink all the coffee I like in the morning, but once the clock reads noon, I have to drink tea instead if I want a hot caffeinated beverage.

Post: #59

I also want to cut out caffeine for a while simply because I'm drinking such large amounts of out habit that I think I probably fried my receptors. I'm just not getting any kind of benefit from coffee, it's mostly just maintenance.

I would have to cut it out for quite a while to reset my tolerance sothat sometime later down the later I could actually be able to drink a cup of coffee and get an energy boost from it.

Anyone know if decaf coffee is a viable alternate?

Post: #60

Update since my last post:
I'm surprised that after a lifetime of caffeine intake I've been able to cut it cold turkey.
I've replaced the coffee with a malt and chicoree solution mixed with cocoa.
The first 4 days I had withdrawal symptoms, notably a recurring pesky head ache.
Its been a week now and I actually seem to have increased my over all physical performance somehow but it could be sonr psychological byproduct too

Post: #61

My recommendation is to quit cold turkey and do not take any pills and no powders and no replacements.

What your body needs is rest. And clean water. And hydration.

Post: #62

(08-08-2016 05:21 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  Switch from coffee to tea in the morning, and eventually you can drop the tea if you want.

Now, when I have the random coffee in the morning I'm way too wired and I don't like it anymore.

For the gym I prefer 100 to 200 mg of caffeine in a pill form instead of coffee.

Rex, is there any 'addictive' quality to those caffeine pills? or any kind of crash afterwards?
Am interested to know as am currently trying to wean myself off coffee, am using tea instead at least for the moment, and so far has gone ok.
Hopefully I won't 'need' the tea either in time if things continue to go well

Post: #63

Caffeine has 0 effect on me. For 5 years of my life I drank nearly two liters of soda a day (thank god I did not become diabetic).

So for the last 7 years I have had no dependency on anything with caffeine. If I am tired in the morning and need a boost, a cup of coffee or the strongest energy drinks have 0-net effect on me. Thus I do not seek them out at all.

Coffee, I drink usually on weekends because I like the taste and aroma of good, well balanced, french press of coffee. But this may be every other weekend, it is easily something I skip or go without. I drink a tea at work, more for overall health benefits, and to have something hot in the morning.

Energy drinks, I can count on two hands how many I have in a year. The reason, because I am only curious when new ones come out what they taste like. They never have worked for "energy" and they just a load of crap with a ton of sugar or other stuff thats bad for you. So my perception is no gain for the sacrifice.

Soda, soda is nothing substantial. Only if I am just tired of water, and it is diet, will I have a glass, and I love it with a ton of ice, so I get equal parts soda and water when I do. But, I am effectively burnt out on the stuff, and it never comes to mind. Although if I am going somewhere like the beach, I may go shopping for something different in the diet sodas just so I am not drinking beer and water all day.

Honestly, the reason I don't drink caffeine like others do can be simplified to how I view it. simply like so:

Coffee - indulgence only to be done right with high quality or not at all

Energy drinks - no positive benefit whatsoever and extremely bad for you, and takes up to substantial a sum of my precious 1900 calories a day to even bother thinking about it.

Soda - Drank rarely for chilled, laid back moments. Only diet, to negate the calorie effects at least. Never think about it other than occasional taste buds treat and being in the moment.

Post: #64

Turns out that it takes 35 hours from one cup of coffee to completely leave your system.

http://www.drugsdb.com/resources/drug-ha...alculator/

The half life of coffee is 5 hours and a cup usually has 100mg of caffeine.

Post: #65

I quit caffeine last Thanksgiving, I didn't f have much trouble after a couple of weeks but I put on 10 pounds since. Looks like it's time to take up smoking.

Post: #66

I'm reluctant to give up coffee because it helps me get through the morning. I realize that same logic could apply to heroin or cocaine. I could quit anytime (classic addiction lie). I skip a day here and there but never more than one.

I drink one cup (400 ml) after the gym, sipping it gradually over 30 to 60 minutes while getting my day started. When doing intermittent fasting, this seems to help stave off any morning hunger. I don't drink it with food. This is basically what kinobody recommends.

I didn't start drinking coffee until my forties. Maybe that's why I don't care about the quality. Any swill will do. The only piece of masculine advice my dad ever gave me: real mean drink their coffee black, no sugar.

I'm pretty sure I have coffee breath, which isn't the worst thing but kind of sucks. For teeth whitening, for a month I've been on the baking soda / hydrogen peroxide routine mentioned in another thread. So those are two concrete downsides.

Post: #67

The effects of caffeine can vary greatly from time to time for me. Some days it makes me very wired, sometimes just a nice energy bump. Def. reduces hunger.
It can affect the onset of sleep sometimes. However strangely, when I drink a lot of it, I wake up EARLIER the next morning. I'm not really tired, I just wake up naturally at 4 or 5 am... Maybe some brain chemical being disturbed...

I've been drinking it more and more over the last years. At my job everyone is guzzling it so it became a habit gradually.

For me it's more a mental addiction. When I try to quit I don't feal any physical cravings or sensations, just a strong urge to have it. "Fuck it, one more cup today, I'll quit coffee tomorrow for real..."

Post: #68

Quick update: I've stopped my coffee habit for a couple of days now. Had some mild fatigue and anxiety the past 2 days. Doing a fast today but I feel fine. Have a bit of an urge to go out and get some coffee but trying to keep it under control.

Remark that both coffee and tea have a lot of other compounds as well. Supposedly green tea kind of blocks the negative effects of caffeine (sleep).
Both drinks have a lot of anti-oxidants and in general they improve the health/longevity.
Caffeine just by itself (or in energy drinks) has a negative effect on your telomeres -> will make you age faster...

I might start drinking green tea and/or decaffeinated coffee in the future, but I first want to go without for a couple of months.

Post: #69

I've started adding cinnamon, turmeric and ginger to my tea, which is usually green or jasmine, in the morning.

Good to kick start digestive system and helps with digesting breakfast.

Post: #70

Switched to yerba mate, seems good. Has anyone been off coffee a month and realized anything other than better dreams? Yerba still has caffeine.

I'm hoping the basic nature of it as opposed to super acidic coffee is better for digestion and deuces.

I did love the taste of coffee and it's super pick me up with all that caffeine and antioxidants, but I do think overall it is very very (too) stimulating.

Post: #71

I quite caffeine just by going cold turkey. I haven't replaced it with any other hot drink and now just have water instead. I needed a few headache pills for first few days but all good after that. Feel much better not drinking it.

I saw an interesting study where they measured attention span of those that drank coffee and those that didn't. Essentially coffee drinkers used the drink to come up somewhere near those that didn't but still under and of course without coffee they were well below.

Essentially coffee drinkers need to keep drinking just to get close to performance levels of those that don't.