Tuesday, March 19, 2024

How To Stop Coffee Addiction

How To Use Caffeine

HOW I QUIT CAFFEINE AND COFFEE ADDICTION

In order to maximise its effects, you need to understand the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that has a lot to do with alertness, its one of your bodies fight or flight hormones and is responsible for why you feel tired at night and awake in the mornings.

Cortisol peaks between 8am-9am. If you drink coffee during this period it wont have as strong an effect. Ideally, you want to get your caffeine during the lulls between cortisol spikesotherwise, you start to develop a tolerance and have to drink more to get the same effect.

READ How To Nail The Perfect Morning Routine

The ideal time to drink a coffee is between 9.30am and 11.30am, that way you will teach your body to wake up naturally and then when you do eventually have your coffee you will be more sensitive to its effects.

Equally, you dont want to have any coffee too late in the day because it can affect your sleep. Caffeine has a half-life of around 6 hours. This means if you have a cup of coffee that contains around 100mg of caffeine at 4pm at 10pm you will still have 50mg of caffeine in your system.

Use Less Coffee In The Coffee Machine To Trick Yourself

“A clever way to cut down coffee consumption a little each week is to still drink the same amount of the liquid, but allow it to contain less caffeine,” said Lyuda Bouzinova, co-founder of Mission Lean and ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist. If you typically put two tablespoons of coffee in your coffee machine, try using one tablespoon instead, she suggested. Continue to repeat until you dont need any caffeine at all, she added.

How To Overcome Caffeine Addiction

This article was medically reviewed by Sarah Gehrke, RN, MS. Sarah Gehrke is a Registered Nurse and Licensed Massage Therapist in Texas. Sarah has over 10 years of experience teaching and practicing phlebotomy and intravenous therapy using physical, psychological, and emotional support. She received her Massage Therapist License from the Amarillo Massage Therapy Institute in 2008 and a M.S. in Nursing from the University of Phoenix in 2013.There are 15 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 107,327 times.

Caffeine is a drug and can be highly addictive. If you’re tired of relying on coffee or energy drinks to get through the day, there are ways to cut back on caffeine. Start tapering off caffeine gradually. Adjust your life as necessary. You may, for example, have to opt for decaf beverages during social settings. You can expect a headache and other symptoms of withdrawal, so manage those accordingly to stay on track.

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You Could Sleep Better

Even though youll feel tired as your body adjusts to the lack of stimulants its so used to, in the long run you could get a better nights sleep once you start living a caffeine-free lifestyle, especially if you were used to drinking coffee in the afternoon or evening. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that caffeine intake even six hours before bedtime can disrupt a persons sleep cycle that night. Try out these ways to wake up in the morning without coffee.

How Can You Tell If Youre Dependent On Caffeine

7 Simple Tips How to Stop Coffee Addiction and Save Money ...

Addicott says caffeine dependence is more about the way the substance affects your day-to-day functioningthan it is about the actual amount you consume each day. Theres no specific number of cups, or milligrams of caffeine, per day that signifies a problem instead, Addicott says, its more about how distressed people feel if they cant get caffeine when they want it, and how much of a disruption it causes in their daily life. Its more of a subjective threshold, she says.

That said, most experts recommend that adults consume no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day . If you regularly drink more than that, you may be at risk of side effects including sleep disruption, migraines and other headaches, quickened heartbeat, muscle tremors, irritability, nervousness and an upset stomach, according to the Mayo Clinic. For some people, those side effects can kick in with even fewer cups, as caffeine tolerance tends to be highly individual.

If you experience physical side effects, have trouble dialing back your consumption or feel totally out of sorts when you cant get your daily fix, these are signs that you may be dependent on caffeine, and you should consider cutting back, Addicott says.

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Caffeine Addiction & Withdrawal: Recognized Psychiatric Disorders

Caffeine is so ubiquitous that its easy to forget that its a psychoactive drug.

Caffeine readily enters the brain where it alters the activity of several neurotransmitters.

It constricts blood vessels, reducing blood flow to the brain.

Caffeine also changes the electrical activity of the brain, causing an increase in beta brainwaves which are linked to a state of arousal.

But is caffeine truly addictive?

To be considered addictive, a substance must meet certain criteria.

Lets see how caffeine stacks up against the three hallmarks of addiction dependence, tolerance, and withdrawal.

Dependence

You crave caffeine, spend a good deal of money on it, and arrange your day to acquire it.

How many trips to Starbucks have you made lately?

Tolerance

You need to keep consuming more caffeine to get the same effect.

Eventually you need it just to function normally.

Do you feel like you need caffeine to face the day?

Withdrawal

Its hard to quit and you experience withdrawal symptoms if your caffeine consumption is interrupted.

Have you ever skipped your normal dose of caffeine? Or tried to quit? Howd that go?

” The most commonly reported withdrawal symptom by far is headache, affecting half of those who quit caffeine.

Caffeine certainly seems to fit the bill as addictive.

The World Health Organization recognizes caffeine addiction as a clinical disorder.

Numerous studies have concluded that some caffeine users become genuinely addicted.

Six Tips For Overcoming Coffee Addiction

How to Quit Drinking Coffee

If you are like hundreds of thousands of people across the country then you are struggling with an addiction to coffee and would like to kick the habit. Beating your Java addiction will not be easy and will probably take you several attempts. I had been drinking coffee since the age of 12 and finally kicked the habit twenty years later. To do this I implemented a number of simple techniques which you will learn here.

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You Could Have More Frequent Headaches

Every coffee lover recognizes the telltale signs of the dreaded caffeine headache that hits when your body doesnt get its morning jolt. When you stop drinking coffee, you deprive your body of adrenaline and dopamine, hormones that act as natural stimulants and keep you awake. Instead, a flood of adenosine a hormone responsible for rest and tiredness rushes to your head, causing a change to your brain chemistry that results in a headache. To minimize the pain, dont quit cold turkey, Wesley Delbridge, RD, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told Prevention. Instead, cut your intake just a little bit every two or three days. Eliminating a half cup of coffee, replacing coffee with tea, or even mixing normal coffee with decaf can help to avoid withdrawal symptoms, and youll be well on your way to weaning off your caffeine dependency. Here are some things that happen to your body when you switch from coffee to tea.

Caffeine Detox: How To Quit Caffeine And Break The Addiction

How to quit your Caffeine & Coffee addiction, an X-Coffee Junkie can help. Transition to 801010.

A caffeine detox may be needed for many reasons and some of those could include:

  • Caffeine may no longer have the same effects it once had.
  • Daily caffeine consumption amounts are out of control.
  • Caffeine consumption is leading to health problems.
  • Doctors orders.
  • Whichever the reason, quitting caffeine isnt easy since most people develop a strong dependence on the daily dose both physically and mentally.

    Most people experience some form of withdrawal symptoms when reducing caffeine. However these can be minimized using a carefully tapered dose.

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    • Tremors
    • Low energy

    Gradually reducing Caffeine intake over several weeks instead of quitting cold turkey can help reduce the severity of withdrawal symptoms. Compared to other addictions, the withdrawal and recovery periods from Caffeine are relatively short. Most Caffeine addiction symptoms can be resolved in 7-12 days of consumption reduction. During that period, the brain will naturally decrease the number of adenosine receptors on each cell in response to the sudden lack of Caffeine. If an individual can decrease intake until it becomes nothing, within a few weeks the levels of adenosine receptors in the brain will reset to their baseline levels the addiction will be broken.

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    Symptoms Of Caffeine Addiction

    As caffeine is a stimulant, consuming too much can cause a cluster of symptoms associated with stimulation of the brain and nervous system. These symptoms include:

    • Dizziness
    • Racing heart, or other heartbeat abnormalities
    • Sleep issues

    This type of addiction can even overlap with work addiction, as some people use the stimulating effects of this substance to perform better at their job mentally and/or physically.

    As with all addictions, the pleasurable effects of caffeine can also sometimes mask other issues. Lack of energy and depression may underlie caffeine addiction. People may rely on caffeine to compensate for sleep disorders.

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    How Caffeine Can Negatively Affect Your Health

    Caffeine has various effects on the body that are potentially harmful to your health. There have been associations of caffeine with increased blood pressure and heart rhythm changes.

    There is also a question of whether caffeine might be associated with increasing your risk of osteoporosis. One study found this to be the case for women in menopause with high caffeine intakes.

    Caffeine can also decrease your health by disturbing your sleep if it is consumed within six hours of bedtime. When you are sleep deprived, it makes it harder to function efficiently during the day. Sleep is also when your body heals, making it important for total health and even for immune function.

    Prepare For Three Days Or More Of Caffeine

    How to Quit Coffee Addiction

    Try to stay very well hydrated and utilize headache relief remedies like magnesium, turmeric, and simple ibuprofen for those first couple days to make the most difficult part of your transition that much smoother, says Geymen. Many give up after a day or two of trying to reduce or kick caffeine because of headaches, so simply acknowledging that this will be the toughest part is helpful to remember to get over the initial hump.

    Thankfully, I didnt suffer from atrocious headaches throughout the process, though I did feel pretty lethargic for the first two weeks. Personally, I found it helpful to crush my craving for coffee or tea with an infused water. In the past two months, Ive probably experimented with twenty different types . My favorite, though, is simple: a generous handful of mint, cucumber rounds and a squeeze of lemon. Its a lot cheaper than my daily coffee habit, and the refreshing taste perks me right upwithout the crash.

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    How To Know Your Methods Are Breaking Your Addiction

    Before getting into how to stop your caffeine addiction, you should first know what signs to look for to tell you you have successfully broken your addiction. Not being able to function without caffeine is the most obvious sign of addiction. People joke about it, but the truth is many people in the workforce look at caffeine as an ally.

    More importantly, you need to know about the possible caffeine withdrawal symptoms. By knowing caffeine withdrawal symptoms, you will anticipate them before they occur and be ready to contain them. The common caffeine withdrawal symptoms that we know are:

    • Headaches, drowsiness, or migraines caused by caffeine withdrawal coupled with lowered blood sugar levels and dehydration due to diuretics in coffee
    • Increased difficulty in sleeping. This is often due to caffeines ability to affect our natural sleep hormone, melatonin, and to disrupt our natural circadian rhythms
    • Nervousness, irritability, or anxiety. Caffeine is often used as a stimulant in the day because it tricks us into thinking that we are alert when really our levels of focus are compromised by reduced mental clarity
    • An increased chance of developing depression because of the drop in serotonin levels
    • A decreased sex drive. Caffeine can affect the production of testosterone, which is needed for libido
    • You do not suffer from headaches before drinking your first cup
    • You are no longer grumpy without caffeine
    • Your tolerance has diminished
    • You are no longer constantly on edge

    Put Your Focus On Your Food Instead

    Food becomes energy â we learned this back in elementary school, and Andy Dwyer from Parks & Recreation famously learned this as an adult, back in 2011. When we normally grab a coffee, we’re looking for a boost of energy. We want to focus and be more productive. Kimberly Snyder, a best-selling author and nutritionist who has been featured in The New York Times, suggests grains like quinoa, colorful vegetables, and nuts. She states that these have complex carbohydrates, which will keep you more alert in the long run. Instead of running out for coffee, maybe have a small tin of mixed nuts in your desk to try and fight the 3 p.m. blues. It’ll help your detox for sure, knowing that you have some type of pick-me-up when things get stressful.

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    How To Get Rid Of Caffeine Addiction With Home Remedies 10 Methods

    Who doesnt love a cup of hot coffee in the morning? It helps you kick-start your day and refreshes you instantly! But, if you are addicted to coffee, you could be heading towards trouble! Although drinking coffee moderately possesses its own health benefits, consuming caffeine in excess could have an adverse effect on your health and prevent you from being your most effective. Over-consumption of caffeine can disturb your focus by causing anxiety and jitters and keep you from getting a good quality sleep. So what do you do when you are addicted to caffeine ? Well, here is some good news. You can actually get rid of caffeine addiction naturally with the help of some simple home remedies!

    I How To Quit Caffeine Addiction Top 8 Reasons To Give Up Caffeine

    How To Stop A Caffeine Addiction Right Now

    1. Caffeine Damages The Liver

    It is necessary for everyone to recognize that caffeine is not easy to digest. In order to breakdown the coffee you take and transform that energy to the blood stream, the liver has to use enzymes. If the enzymes are hardly do the work at their best while the liver is trying to breakdown caffeine, they will not be ready to remove other bad chemicals out of the body. So, those people who drink too much coffee might hardly get rid of bad chemical from their bodies. Also, their liver function is off.2. Caffeine Enhances The Risk Of Heart Disease

    Chlorogenic acid in coffee may inhibit glucose-6-phosphatase, an enzyme which regulates the blood sugar metabolism in the liver. Besides, because of the indisputably-high levels of antioxidants, which have benign effect on the insulin sensitivity. In fact, the habituation to caffeine can reduce insulin sensitivity make it difficult for the cells to respond properly to blood sugar. High blood sugar will lead to arterial deterioration and enhanced risk of mortality related to cardiovascular disease.

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    3. Caffeine Reduces Sex Drive

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    4. Caffeine Promotes Fertility Problems

    5. Caffeine Decreases Energy Level

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    6. Caffeine Causes Insomnia

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    Caffeine Can Make You Tired

    One of the most surprising side effects of caffeine is that it can make you tired.

    Thats because caffeine does not provide true energy and is not even a direct stimulant.

    Caffeine works indirectly by binding to receptors in your brain for adenosine, a brain chemical that acts like a brake on brain activity.

    Adenosine helps you register that you are tired and need to rest.

    When your system is flooded with caffeine, adenosine can no longer turn off your brain.

    So your brain on caffeine is like a car with no brakes and the accelerator pedal pushed to the floor.

    Caffeine creates a vicious cycle of temporary energy boosts with subsequent crashes, interrupted sleep, and a need for more caffeine.

    Drink Plenty Of Water Throughout Day

    When I started quitting caffeine and my 6-diet-cokes-a-day habit years ago, I knew I had to replace it with something. So I bought a pretty water bottle, filled it twice a day and made sure I drank it. I couldnt believe how much more energy I had. Even today, when Im feeling drowsy, I drink a glass of water, and sure enough, it does the trick. Try it yourself and see!

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    You Could Feel Calmer

    If too much caffeine has ever left you squirming in your chair or jiggling your leg, its time to say goodbye to your double espresso shots. Since caffeine is a stimulant, it naturally raises levels of adrenaline and stress hormones in your body. Ditching caffeine will make you feel less stressed and anxious.

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