What are some of HNers' experiences with cutting out caffeine?
I personally found that drinking coffee on a daily basis increases neurotic behaviour. The effects aren't instant but on a weeks-to-months timeframe. I have a hard time fully ditching coffee, given how ingrained it is in the fabric of society.
I stopped drinking it for a couple of months while I was having anxiety problems. There was no upside to cutting it out, I only felt worse.
I drink between 600ml and 1.2L a day and find that it has a positive impact on my mood. There is such a thing as "too much" where I'll get jittery and overbearing but it's a very high threshold.
I have been drinking coffee everyday for practically 7 years. I've stopped it at times but most recently i stopped to deal with some stomach acid issues. Quitting definitely helped with that but an unintentional side effect was my libido. Pardon the bedroom talk, but the number of erections i randomly got each day was increased by a drastic number.
When i started drinking coffee again after quitting for like 3 weeks, i instantly felt anxiety when i drank it again and a decrease in libido.
I'm honestly considering quitting for good and potentially switching to tea
Yeah whenever I cut it out for 2+ days I notice less twitchy neuroticism, more relaxed. Skin feels less dry. Teeth get whiter within a week. Sleep after 2+ days off is higher quality and more consistent.
I just love getting that morning cortado to "get in the zone". It really is hard to stop, not in a chemical sense but in a habitual/ritualistic sense.
I've never tried nor wanted to cut it out entirely, but I did want to reduce my intake so that when I did take it, I was not so tolerant of it and it's positive effects were more noticeable. Due to having built a tolerance and enjoying the taste, I would have coffee in the evenings, on weekends, and on workdays at least 3 on waking, midday and afternoon.
For the 2 months I've cut down pretty drastically - No caffeine after 4pm. Only taking it on workdays, at 11am and 3pm. 1 shot per coffee (no large size or double shots).
Surprisingly, I haven't noticed any real negative effects. I think it would be worse going totally to zero. Maybe you'll be able to get the benefits you want by a reduction without going cold turkey?
Another thing to do your own research on, but I also started having Theanine alongside my coffee, and I feel like it's functioning as intended in terms of reducing jittery-ness, some of the random mild muscle twitches I sometimes got with high caffeine/low sleep, and less of that heavy heartbeat I sometimes used to get. Unfortunately there's considerate overlap between when I started reducing my caffeine intake and also supplementing Theanine, so I don't know how much to attribute to what...
Also, decaf does not taste noticeably different to me. I started ordering decaf e.g. on weekends, and it's made surprisingly little difference. I did get a few comments when my friends noticed, but no negative pressure, most people tend to be sympathetic to someone trying to reduce their caffeine intake I've found.
Perhaps not that useful to people who do frequently drink coffee but coffee makes me feel awful. Sweatiness, shaking, diarrhea. From just a single cup.
I do drink it occasionally because I really like the taste but I frequently end up regretting it.
I never got "bad" caffeine side effects (like cardiac ones) or even much wakefulness, and I think the article's idea that 400mg is somehow the "max" is hilarious. That's not even a little chatty.
I did end up cutting down in the sense that my life got healthier; where before it was easy to be in front of the computer sipping coffee or running from one staircase to another really fast literally all day, I got more things to do in my life that required time investment and reduced my intake from drinking coffee (and often espresso) sunup to midnight literally refilling cups the minute they were empty to about 8 or 9 cups a day. I discovered to my great surprise that I had never had social anxiety and didn't tolerate alcohol as well as I thought, and also that a lot more people in my life that I had known 1) noticed, 2) thought I had a problem and 3) did not find it funny.
I can't really cut it out now because I don't really think there's an alternative I'd like that isn't worse, but the improvement was there and the worst part is I would never have guessed it before. Like, I thought that stuff was all my personality. And the relationship stuff also was a major difference; in the sense that I was constantly complaining about not having a support system but also not leaving myself time for other people or allowing myself to feel "natural" pleasure from interaction with people.
But also I think it's pretty okay to drink coffee (eat cookies, play video games, whatever your poison of choice is). I don't see why so many people are trying to entirely "cut it out". All your habits that have become expected constants of your life, and not pleasurable luxuries, should be subject to scrutiny though. Do you need daily coffee (cookies, video games, whatever)? What do your loved ones think of that? Have you ever thought of doing a new activity, but decided against it because your ritual seemed more comforting?
my daily coffee intake is two heaping teaspoons of grinds ... without coffee for a day the mood, sleep and energy levels start swinging ... it takes a good 10 days free of caffeine dry out after which I am fine without coffee
How bad is it? For the last 30 years i eat 400g of sugar a day (i make whole cakes pretty much everyday and thats the amount i put in), on festivities about 1kg but then i get so sleepy so fast i kinda pass out. Nothing else serious so far.
No i am 180cm and 61kg i always has trouble gaining weight. When younger i was actually 53kg for a long time. Also have constant intestinal trouble no one can diagnose me with (5 shits a day)
Excess sugar consumption is widely thought to be one of the worst dietary choices we can make. Impacts insulin resistance, our energy levels, gut flora, etc. You should feel a difference just by sticking to natural sources such as the occasional fruit (some are low in the glycemic index e.g. blueberries, while most at least have fiber which reduces the insulin response).
Rockstar, Raze, Monster, and Bang have variants up to 300mg per can. Image how many cans people consume to stay awake during a long day or just on a daily basis.
This feels a little misleading. The starbucks drip coffee they keep talking about has a shocking amount of caffeine. The more typical 2 shot starbucks latte has 150mg (vs the 400 mg daily limit suggested in the article). I assume the machine in my office that makes a latte has similar amounts. I have two a day, "only" 300 mg!
its all about time coffee remains in contact with water ... the shot is optimized for flavor, high in oils which are quickly released ... longer exposure with water in drip extracts out greater percentage of caffeine
23 comments
[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 35.0 ms ] threadI personally found that drinking coffee on a daily basis increases neurotic behaviour. The effects aren't instant but on a weeks-to-months timeframe. I have a hard time fully ditching coffee, given how ingrained it is in the fabric of society.
I drink between 600ml and 1.2L a day and find that it has a positive impact on my mood. There is such a thing as "too much" where I'll get jittery and overbearing but it's a very high threshold.
When i started drinking coffee again after quitting for like 3 weeks, i instantly felt anxiety when i drank it again and a decrease in libido.
I'm honestly considering quitting for good and potentially switching to tea
I just love getting that morning cortado to "get in the zone". It really is hard to stop, not in a chemical sense but in a habitual/ritualistic sense.
For the 2 months I've cut down pretty drastically - No caffeine after 4pm. Only taking it on workdays, at 11am and 3pm. 1 shot per coffee (no large size or double shots).
Surprisingly, I haven't noticed any real negative effects. I think it would be worse going totally to zero. Maybe you'll be able to get the benefits you want by a reduction without going cold turkey?
Another thing to do your own research on, but I also started having Theanine alongside my coffee, and I feel like it's functioning as intended in terms of reducing jittery-ness, some of the random mild muscle twitches I sometimes got with high caffeine/low sleep, and less of that heavy heartbeat I sometimes used to get. Unfortunately there's considerate overlap between when I started reducing my caffeine intake and also supplementing Theanine, so I don't know how much to attribute to what...
Also, decaf does not taste noticeably different to me. I started ordering decaf e.g. on weekends, and it's made surprisingly little difference. I did get a few comments when my friends noticed, but no negative pressure, most people tend to be sympathetic to someone trying to reduce their caffeine intake I've found.
I do drink it occasionally because I really like the taste but I frequently end up regretting it.
I did end up cutting down in the sense that my life got healthier; where before it was easy to be in front of the computer sipping coffee or running from one staircase to another really fast literally all day, I got more things to do in my life that required time investment and reduced my intake from drinking coffee (and often espresso) sunup to midnight literally refilling cups the minute they were empty to about 8 or 9 cups a day. I discovered to my great surprise that I had never had social anxiety and didn't tolerate alcohol as well as I thought, and also that a lot more people in my life that I had known 1) noticed, 2) thought I had a problem and 3) did not find it funny.
I can't really cut it out now because I don't really think there's an alternative I'd like that isn't worse, but the improvement was there and the worst part is I would never have guessed it before. Like, I thought that stuff was all my personality. And the relationship stuff also was a major difference; in the sense that I was constantly complaining about not having a support system but also not leaving myself time for other people or allowing myself to feel "natural" pleasure from interaction with people.
But also I think it's pretty okay to drink coffee (eat cookies, play video games, whatever your poison of choice is). I don't see why so many people are trying to entirely "cut it out". All your habits that have become expected constants of your life, and not pleasurable luxuries, should be subject to scrutiny though. Do you need daily coffee (cookies, video games, whatever)? What do your loved ones think of that? Have you ever thought of doing a new activity, but decided against it because your ritual seemed more comforting?
I hope people don't read this thinking they can get their caffeine just from a soft drink; each can has 36g of sugar.
Since excess glucose gets stored as fat I was curious about the commenters weight
In a word: bad.
Rockstar, Raze, Monster, and Bang have variants up to 300mg per can. Image how many cans people consume to stay awake during a long day or just on a daily basis.