How can you stop drinking coffee, what to replace it with, what are the consequences?

Coffee is an excellent invigorating drink that allows you to quickly wake up, tone up and get an additional boost of energy. There are many types of this drink, everyone loves it for its pleasant taste, aroma, and positive effect on the body.

However, few people think about whether drinking espresso is really healthy, and what the consequences of abusing this drink can be. That is why the question of how to stop drinking coffee becomes relevant only when a person notices that the deterioration of his health is directly related to the intake of this strong drink.

How difficult is it to give up coffee?

Medical research has been conducted on the topic of coffee addiction for quite some time. Today, most narcologists are inclined to believe that the caffeine it contains can actually cause addiction in most people, and not so much physical as psychological.

A term was even introduced to denote this type of addiction - caffeineism. It is officially included in the international classification of diseases.

It’s worth immediately reassuring coffee lovers with the fact that great willpower is not required to give up coffee. Caffeine is a relatively weak stimulant.

In most cases, a person who drinks this drink moderately, even for several years, can completely give it up without contacting a narcologist.

Some of the most pronounced signs of caffeineism include:

• Bad mood and difficulty concentrating without another dose of coffee;
• Avoid other drinks. Many people easily alternate coffee with tea. They drink coffee in the morning to stay alert, and in the afternoon they prefer aromatic tea. This is a good habit, as tea contains theine, which stimulates more gently. But if coffee has replaced all drinks in a person’s diet, then this is a reason to think;
• Increased irritability and insomnia.

Fact No. 3. You can't eat what's not in the refrigerator

Only Iron Man can hold on with a can of coffee and a bag of cookies on hand. Normal living people may not be able to fight such a fight with themselves. In addition, everything related to coffee is a whole system of rituals, which begins with the choice of beans and ends with the purchase of the most beautiful coffee cup. It is very difficult to simply take and discard ritual behavior. What to do?
It is worth getting rid of all temptations in the house and not buying them anymore. Ritual behavior needs to be replaced. A good choice is to play sports or start learning something new. At first, it is better not to go to places where other people eat cakes and wash them down with coffee. The sight and smell are too tempting, and the example of others is contagious.

What happens if you suddenly stop drinking coffee?

Those who dare to abruptly give up caffeine may develop withdrawal syndrome, characterized by the following unpleasant aspects:

1. Drowsiness . Caffeine inhibits the functioning of adenosine receptors in the brain, which are responsible for relaxation. Therefore, by drinking coffee, a person quickly dispels morning drowsiness. When you refuse an invigorating drink, it is more difficult for the brain to get out of the “relaxed state” after sleep, since it is accustomed to the external stimulant in the form of caffeine. At the same time, reduced performance may persist throughout the day;
2. Migraine . Those with low blood pressure will have to face this problem. Thanks to caffeine, blood vessels narrow slightly, which simultaneously leads to an increase in blood pressure and a slowdown in cerebral blood flow. When caffeine does not enter the body for a long time, blood circulation in the brain increases and the blood vessels dilate again. This leads to throbbing or pressing pain in the head;
3. Decreased concentration;
4. Bad mood . This is because caffeine enhances the release of dopamine. Such regular stimulation does not go unnoticed. After its abrupt disappearance, some people experience an inexplicable feeling of anxiety and depression;
5. Increased appetite . This invigorating drink contains a lot of saturated amino acids and other substances that suppress hunger. This is why coffee lovers are less susceptible to the desire to quickly snack on something.

All of the problems listed above should go away completely 3 weeks after quitting coffee.

Wouldn't it be worse?

Coffee “addicts” are afraid of the possible consequences of giving up their usual product. There is an opinion: if you stop drinking coffee, it will be bad.

These concerns are understandable, but all problems are surmountable:

1. Will there be weight fluctuations? The scale arrow may deviate in both directions. Weight increases if a person “eats” stress. Without coffee, people lose weight when they give up high-calorie cappuccino, ice cream or raff. Diet will help keep your weight normal.
2. Will you experience constipation? Coffee has a laxative effect, and if you refuse it, your intestines can become lazy. Fiber will help: bran, fruits and raw vegetables.
3. Will performance decrease? It will indeed be more difficult to concentrate on work in the first days, but over time, productivity will be restored.
4. Will your head hurt? For a couple of days after quitting, the body will get used to life without coffee, signaling the adjustment in various ways, including headaches. But this is a temporary phenomenon.

Tips for overcoming caffeine addiction

There are several effective tips to help you overcome your coffee addiction:

1. Smoothly reduce the dose . Don't suddenly stop drinking coffee. In this case, the withdrawal syndrome will be more severe. It's better to do it gradually. For example, a person is used to drinking 5 cups of an invigorating drink. In this case, every week he reduces the amount of coffee he drinks by one cup. When a person reaches 1 cup a day, then for the last month you can drink coffee every other day, then once a week, and eventually give it up altogether;
2. Consider the amount of caffeine . Espresso contains about 50 mg of caffeine, while instant coffee contains 40 mg. Therefore, you can first switch from espresso to instant coffee;
3. Start giving up coffee from the first day of your vacation. Being outside the work environment makes it easier for a person to endure withdrawal symptoms in the form of drowsiness and low mood;
4. Replace coffee with delicious food or sweets . Instead of the usual cup of an invigorating drink, you can treat yourself to sweets or chocolate;
5. Walk or jog more often . Active movement coupled with fresh air will help the body cope with the lack of caffeine much better.

Stop drinking coffee: ways and methods

Love for coffee and addiction to it are two different things. Doctors agree that we can talk about coffee addiction when the consumption rate exceeds 6 cups of natural coffee daily. With this regimen, a person receives an excessive amount of caffeine, which sooner or later negatively affects health and well-being.

There are several methods for getting rid of coffee addiction. For the sake of convenience, we will divide all methods into groups.

• Extreme.
• Substitute.
• Stepped.
• Psychological.

Replacing coffee with another drink

The most optimal method of giving up coffee is to replace it with another drink :

1. Chicory . The best option. Its taste is only vaguely reminiscent of coffee, so avid coffee lovers are better off purchasing special brands with a flavor, such as cappuccino. Chicory also has a positive effect on the nervous system;
2. Green tea . It has less caffeine than black tea. It is moderately invigorating, quenches thirst well and has a pleasant taste;
3. Cocoa . Everyone's favorite drink from childhood, with minimal caffeine;
4. Decaffeinated coffee . If you really don’t have the willpower to give up your favorite taste in the morning, then you’ll have to buy expensive decaffeinated coffee. As you can guess from the name, it contains virtually no caffeine, and its aroma and taste are indistinguishable from regular coffee.

Life experience - six years without coffee

I was asked to talk about coffee. I understand that there will be disputes and disagreements. But I’m not forcing anyone, I’m just inviting you to think - what if? And I share my experience, my relationship with coffee.

I didn't like coffee at first. Somehow I was lucky that I didn’t drink it at all until I was 20 years old. And because my mother didn’t drink it, and I absolutely didn’t like the taste. In this sense, I can consider myself lucky, because many drank coffee already at school - sometimes they served coffee rather than tea for lunch. Children! Although more on that later.

When I was in my early 20s and at university, I got a job at a paging company. Our schedule was like this - 12 hours every 36. That is, first the day shift, then the night shift, and so on. There was not much work at night, but there was still work, and it was necessary to stand firmly on one’s feet. To do this, we used various means, including coffee. I winced, endured and drank so as not to fall asleep. Coffee came in especially handy if you had to go to university in the morning, and you couldn’t sleep there under any circumstances.

I lived in this mode for three months and left, feeling that it was too physically difficult for me. But coffee has become a habit. I came to terms with its taste and found a lot of “useful” in its effect on my body.

I always considered myself a night owl, getting up before 9-10 in the morning was a disaster, even my mother was afraid to wake me up. I muttered, grumbled, swore. And getting up at 8 o’clock, I was a dissatisfied amoeba until 10-11. But the habit of coffee helped change this matter. Now waking up, or rather, barely opening one eye, still around 9 o’clock, I went to get coffee. After 10-15 minutes I was already human. But without coffee, I became not just a dissatisfied amoeba, but an irritated vixen.

«Coffee became my “helper”, without which not a single day could go by. At night I stayed up on the Internet because I couldn’t live without it, and in the morning I drank coffee.

Then I got a job at a tea and coffee company. We held various tastings in city stores and sometimes went on business trips to neighboring cities. We brewed tea or coffee and invited people to try it. Then I learned a lot about coffee and tea, they told me, for example, how and what instant coffee is made from, how several times more caffeine is artificially added to it than to natural coffee, I remember we even watched some video. And I didn’t raise my hand to drink instant coffee after that.

True, they also praised natural coffee to me, which “does not excite the nervous system,” “does not affect it in any way,” “does not burden the heart,” and so on. This is exactly what we sold. It also had an amazing smell. It was then, in Siberia, that I first encountered this so closely. It was surprising, but it made it easier to offer coffee to people. It filled the entire store with its aroma, and people themselves gathered around. With tea it was more difficult.

“Then for the first time I thought - why is this? Why do people flock to it, to this smell, like zombies?”

Coffee has become a huge part of my life. When I was preparing for the state exam and my thesis defense, I lived on coffee. When I had relationship problems, I stopped eating and lived on coffee. I also lost weight by drinking coffee when necessary. The bitter and aromatic drink became everything to me. I drank from 3 to 7 cups of coffee a day. And I couldn’t live without coffee. There might not have been anything else in my life, but coffee had to remain.

Further more. Having already gotten married and moved to St. Petersburg, I came across coffee shops on every corner where they brewed aromatic and tasty cappuccino. We didn’t go to cafes to eat, we didn’t have extra money for that, but there was always an opportunity for coffee. And somehow for a whole year we lived above an excellent coffee shop with especially delicious coffee, which was an obligatory ritual of the day. I drank coffee both when I was breastfeeding and when I was pregnant - a little at a time, only natural coffee, but I couldn’t live without it.

And trips to Italy, one of the most beloved countries, have always been filled with coffee aromas. After all, the coffee there is so delicious! And what it smells like! And everyone drinks it all the time. I walked past the coffee shop, drank a shot of espresso, and ran about my business. You sit talking to someone and sip your cappuccino or latte. In Italy it is absolutely impossible to live without coffee. It's a lifestyle. It's a ritual, a tradition, a part of life. And he seduces from everywhere.

There are many romantic memories associated with coffee in my life. For example, how we warmed ourselves with coffee on rainy or winter days. Or how I arrived early in the morning in Ulan-Ude to visit my grandfather, but I didn’t want to wake him up, and an acquaintance met me. We walked around the city at dawn and then drank coffee - this was probably the first sunrise I saw in my life. Or how, on the first eighth of March of our life together, my beloved husband brought me coffee in bed. Or our first trip to Italy for our honeymoon, and my first real cappuccino with a sea view. Or long walks along the sea in Italy with two children, the next morning after which the husband brought home aromatic coffee. Or the same coffee shop where we lived, where all the meetings were held, where my husband worked and it was very soulful and delicious. We met the girls there and celebrated all the holidays.

And even when I started listening to Dr. Torsunov’s lectures, I ignored his words about coffee. I can’t live without him, period. Anything other than coffee is not discussed. Although I still didn’t like the taste - and I interrupted it with sugar. It turned out to be a double blow to the body.

“But still, my trust in the doctor one day resulted in me thinking about coffee.”

Six years ago we were with friends in Sicily. And suddenly I notice that on the way to the beach I need coffee. Without him I become angry. On the way back I need coffee again because the previous one runs out and I become even angrier. And the smell of coffee acts magically, and the legs themselves move in its direction. I get annoyed if my husband tells me to “stop drinking coffee.” I get angry if the cafe is closed. I can't work or do anything without coffee. I'm having real withdrawal symptoms. I'm a coffee lover. Admitting that I had an addiction was difficult. By that time, coffee had already been my life partner for 7-8 years; I loved and knew it longer than my own husband.

It was then that I saw a picture where caffeine with all other drugs was lined up according to the criteria of addiction and mortality from it. And it turns out that this is one of the most powerful and dangerous drugs in the world - on a par with marijuana. Alcohol and nicotine are, of course, stronger. But caffeine is also “good.” A strong drug and legal. Well advertised. And most people in the world die from cardiovascular diseases. This is somehow connected, don’t you think?

So at that moment my husband and I decided to experiment. We decided to give up coffee for a month and try it. How it broke me! In two weeks I was both at the extremes of rage and in the deepest depression. I slept like a groundhog and hated myself for it. I abandoned everything and couldn’t even get close to them. I rushed at people, hated all the carefree visitors to the cafe with a cup of cappuccino in their hand, I hated the cafe, the baristas, and the whole world. And myself at the same time. I almost broke down a couple of times. To make it not so difficult, I went to coffee shops almost every day and inhaled the aroma. At least get some smell. I started eating coffee ice cream. To at least somehow support myself.

“It’s good that we decided to do this together with my husband; it would have been much more difficult without his support, especially if he had continued to drink coffee in front of me.”

And it was easier to finish the job - we helped each other not to give up. For every pleading look I gave, he invariably answered me: “no,” and that helped. Every time he offered to drink a cup, I could stop him.

I had about the same severe withdrawal symptoms when I gave up sugar a few years later. But this was the first time this had happened with coffee, and I was surprised by what was happening. I didn’t recognize myself in this. Millions of reasons appeared to disrupt the experiment. My blood pressure was dropping, I didn’t have the strength to take care of business and children, I couldn’t wake up in the morning even after 12 hours of sleep, nothing made me happy. And I thought that drug addicts experience something similar, and it’s not easy.

And then the cleansing began. The first relief came a week later, I was able to walk past the coffee shop without tears. And then more. It was as if some scale had fallen from my eyes, and everything became cleaner, clearer and simpler.

«And suddenly I had more strength, and my health problems disappeared somewhere, although not immediately. And most importantly, it became easier to hear myself. Listen and hear, see and feel.

»

It was as if I realized that I used to wear gloves, black glasses, and earplugs and thus tried to understand the world. And he seemed to me not so interesting, even somehow strange. And then it turned out that the problem was not in the world, and not even in me. You just need to take off your gloves, glasses, take out your earplugs... And wow, how great it is here!

I also saw that the world was trying in every possible way to return me to my original position. People make appointments in coffee shops - this is the most convenient; on the plane there is only coffee or black tea - a good choice without much of an alternative. Coffee is sold to us in films and on magazine covers. Quite successfully, by the way. We want a life like on the screen, and there our friends chat over a bottle of wine or a cup of coffee, sometimes smoking beautifully. Dates between lovers are also incomplete without coffee. And what kind of breakfast do you bring to your beloved’s bed? That's right, a cup of coffee and something else.

And we convince ourselves that this is good and even useful. Deep down we understand that this is not so, but we continue to look for justifying arguments.

So I convinced myself that natural coffee was even healthy, but I didn’t drink instant coffee, so everything was fine. And also the option “they still drink” or “my grandmother died at the age of one hundred and drank liters of coffee.” Or “coffee is indicated for me because my blood pressure is low.” It seems to me that any “I can’t live without coffee” is already a serious reason to think about living without it.

When I drank coffee, I had low blood pressure, and the coffee “helped,” but then I discovered that my blood pressure began to fluctuate—either low or high. Suddenly, out of the blue, and this especially made itself felt during pregnancy. Two pregnancies with blood pressure surges. Now I don’t drink coffee or tea at all and my blood pressure is as stable as an astronaut’s. Even during pregnancy - now I have the experience of two more trips to pick up children, and there are no problems with blood pressure, even though my age is different.

“Where did the problem with “low pressure” go? In my case, getting used to coffee provoked it. No coffee, no problem.”

I like the clarity of consciousness that appears without coffee. I like that my performance no longer depends on a cup of some kind of potion. I like that I belong to myself more and can control myself. It became much easier for me to get up in the morning, and I have never gotten up so early.

What did this give me in the end?

Let's put it in order and repeat somewhere:

• blood pressure returned to normal “suddenly”;
• ideal blood pressure during pregnancy;
• sleep problems disappeared;
• it became easier to wake up in the morning;
• increased irritability went away;
• no dependence on any drink;
• there is a purity of consciousness that is difficult to overestimate;
• my performance does not depend on stimulation - and I must say, over these six years it has grown;
• I began to hear and understand my body better;
• I have much more strength and energy;
• The level of stress has decreased - both inside me and, strangely, around me;
• I started looking much better when I stopped drinking coffee;
• saved a lot of money without coffee shops and coffee.

“Everyone chooses for themselves, but I now know that coffee is a drug. And for me, the option “why categorically refuse, drink sometimes” sounds the same as “why categorically refuse marijuana, smoke sometimes.”

I repeat - for me this is so. How it is for you is up to you to choose and decide.

Should I replace coffee with something?

I don't replace it with anything. The body gradually returns to normal and does not require additional stimulants. But in some cases, especially at the beginning, you can use, for example, a contrast shower. There will be more sense. Some people replace it with chicory and are happy. Personally, I don’t like chicory, and I don’t feel the need to replace coffee with anything. After all, for me it sounds something like this: “Do you need to replace drugs with something?”

And a few facts about coffee that we know, but we pretend that it's all nonsense.

• Coffee dehydrates the body. In many good restaurants, you bring a glass of water with your cup of coffee to drink afterwards. But this does not solve the problem, and coffee causes serious damage to the body's water balance.
• Coffee disrupts the natural rhythm of the heart, so it causes serious harm to the health of those who have a weak heart, and “helps” others create heart problems out of nothing.
• Coffee leaches calcium, potassium, magnesium, and B vitamins from the body. This leads to problems with bones, teeth, cerebral circulation, migraines, and so on.
• The habit of drinking coffee in the evenings provokes sleep disorders, resulting in insomnia. There's not much pleasure in this, is there? Anyone who has ever encountered this will understand.
• Coffee excites the body, and if you drink it constantly, you quickly become exhausted.
• Constant stimulation of the nervous system with coffee leads to uncontrollable outbursts of anger, hysterics, and psychosis.
• Stimulation of the cardiovascular and nervous systems leads to the accumulation of stress in the body. You probably remember how stress affects women.
• “You have to keep increasing the dose to get the desired effect. And the higher the dose, the more problems.
  »
• Coffee mobilizes you for an hour or two, and then you feel weaker than before the mug of coffee. And you need a new “dose”. It is addiction.
• In women who frequently drink coffee, the ability to conceive a child drops by 25-40 percent.
• Drinking coffee during pregnancy can cause miscarriage or gestational diabetes and preeclampsia.
• The functioning of the cardiovascular system is disrupted, just watch how coffee affects your pulse.
• Drinking coffee in adolescence can cause irreparable damage to the skeletal system, which is being formed quite actively at this time.
• Constant consumption of coffee leads to premature aging of the body.
• If you drink a cup of coffee that costs 100 rubles a day, then in a month you will spend 3,000 rubles on coffee. Only for coffee. Or you could buy a dress.

Coffee also prevents us from hearing our needs. When the body wants to sleep, it has reasons. And what will happen if, instead of giving a rest to someone who is very tired, we give ourselves coffee and continue to work? The need has not gone away, it has been pushed into the far corner, and the body is still exhausted. After a few years, you can get complete powerlessness, apathy, depression and exhaustion.

“No product - be it coffee or energy drink - gives us extra strength. Perhaps this is the main myth. »

They pull out hidden resources from our body that are hidden for a rainy day. Thus, we waste all this, and now we no longer have the strength to resist illness or live for some time in emergency mode (for example, with a baby).

This is why there is no more coffee in my life. And thank God, thank Him for helping me get rid of such addiction. Yes, it was difficult. Yes, there were attempts to return. Yes, I deluded myself that decaffeinated coffee is not so harmful (and this is another myth). Yes, there is no more coffee romance in my life.

But now I have something more. I have myself. I, who is in a sober mind and solid memory. I, who can control myself, understand and hear, and also manage my emotions. This is much more valuable to me.

Who quit drinking coffee: what is the effect?

If a person has found the courage to last without coffee for at least a month , then he can observe positive changes in the body :

• Sound sleep appears . Some studies show that caffeine can affect brain function even 6 hours after consumption. Therefore, drinking coffee in the early evening can lead to restless sleep or difficulty falling asleep. Complete exclusion of coffee from the diet is the path to healthy and sound sleep;
• Skin condition improves . Caffeine impairs the absorption of some beneficial microelements needed by the skin;
• The emotional background is normalized . The energizing effect of caffeine is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, coffee will indeed provide a temporary mood boost. But at the same time, many people experience increased nervous excitability, they react more sharply to stressful situations and are more likely to quarrel with a colleague or household member. If you exclude coffee from your diet, your mood swings will not be as severe.

You don't have to completely give up your favorite invigorating drink. It is enough to observe the measure and use it only in the morning or a couple of times a week. If a person decides to give up coffee, then it is recommended to gradually reduce the number of cups drunk per day, simultaneously replacing it with chicory or green tea.

How much caffeine do you consume

90% of American adults drink caffeine every day. Recommended How much caffeine do you consume? the daily permissible dose is 300 mg. A glass of medium roast coffee from Starbucks contains 310 mg of caffeine from Pike Place Roast. And a serving of lightly fried is already 475 Blonde Roast mg. So if you drink several cups a day, by the evening you'll be ingesting nearly 1,000 mg of caffeine.

According to Caffeine: How much is too much? According to the Mayo Clinic, caffeine doses greater than 400 mg per day can cause side effects such as headaches, insomnia, stomach upset and anxiety. And at least 14% of US residents regularly take this dose.

“The exact amount of caffeine that would be definitively harmful to health is difficult to pinpoint,” says Maggie Sweeney, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Institute of Medicine. It all depends on your lifestyle and your genes. In rare cases, large amounts of it can increase Does an energy drink cause a transient ischemic attack? the likelihood of mini-strokes (called transient ischemic attacks), when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted for a short time, says neurologist Chris Winter.

It's really strange to watch a 21-year-old guy who has already had several strokes at his age. As a rule, such people abuse energy drinks. So caffeine overdose definitely exists.

Chris Winter

When I was studying math, I consumed almost 1,200 mg of caffeine per day - every day, from 2001 to now. Its half-life is Serum Caffeine Half-lives: Healthy Subjects vs. Patients Having Alcoholic Hepatic Disease is approximately six hours. So if you take 300 mg at noon, you'll have 150 mg left in your body by 6 p.m., about 75 mg at midnight, and so on. So my body was obviously under constant influence for almost two decades.