My Journey to Quitting Caffeine for Good

First, let me go back to the beginning…. The first time I ever had “coffee” I was a freshman in college. It was over 90 degrees out and humid in South Carolina in August as I walked into the school library. As soon as the cool air-conditioned breeze hit my face, so did the smell of delicious coffee. My mom and sister were big coffee drinkers when I was in high school, but I could never get behind that bitter aftertaste until… the Java chip frappuccino hit my radar at the library Starbucks. The rest is history. 

Working my way up to 3 or 4 cups of black coffee a day, iced tea, pre-workout every morning and the occasional celsius would inevitably lead me down the path of caffeine addiction. The first thing I did every morning was turn on the coffee pot. I couldn’t go to bed at night on vacation without knowing when and where we would be getting coffee the next morning. If I didn’t drink some form of caffeine within the first hour of waking up, I would experience severe headaches, sugar cravings, fatigue, brain fog, and irritability. One summer vacation, I was challenged to take a 4-day caffeine break. I was still drinking decaf coffee and, y’all, I might as well have had the flu! I felt so awful I could barely get out of bed. I had to take a nap each one of those 4 days and I was definitely unpleasant to be around. Even after experiencing that, I always kept going back to my beloved cup of coffee. 

About 6 months after that caffeine break, I started experiencing brain fog, fatigue, irritability, severe anxiety, hormone imbalances, and stomach problems on a daily basis that caffeine couldn’t “fix”. If you’ve been here for a while, you know that this is the point where I started discovering that I had severe leaky gut and gut dysbiosis. Although I was realizing that coffee had started making these symptoms worse, not better, I still couldn’t shake the craving and habit of drinking a cup (or 3) of coffee each morning. Not to mention, I couldn’t physically wake up each morning without it.

Now if you are like me, you have used all the excuses in the book: 

“I just love drinking something warm first thing in the morning.” 

“I love the smell.” 

“But there are so many studies that coffee is actually good for you!” 

“I wouldn’t be able to go to the bathroom in the morning if I didn’t drink coffee.”

While I believe in everything in moderation, there is a fine line to be drawn with coffee & caffeine, especially for women. Things like fatigue, caffeine-induced anxiety, caffeine-induced insomnia, lack of hunger, severe sugar cravings, digestion irregularity, hormone imbalances, adrenal fatigue, and trouble focusing are all your body's way of telling you that something is off, not that you “need more coffee”. 

A little background on how caffeine works in your body….

When you drink coffee, caffeine molecules are able to enter the brain through the blood-brain barrier, directly increase blood pressure, and stimulate the release of the stress hormone, cortisol. This causes your body to go into a fight or flight response. While it is natural for your body to release cortisol at certain points throughout the day, especially first thing in the morning, long periods of cortisol release over time can eventually lead to adrenal fatigue and other noticeable symptoms. Adrenal fatigue is when your adrenals have been so overworked that they can no longer regulate the secretion of cortisol throughout the day.

All this to say if you have ever struggled with anxiety, irregular digestion, fatigue, hormone imbalances, brain fog, etc., it may be worth giving a coffee break a try. 

This is the point where I wondered, “Okay, but is it even possible? I can barely function without it.”

YES! Here are my 5 tips on quitting coffee for good:

1. Slowly taper off your consumption

For example, if you drink 1 cup of coffee a day, start with making it half-caf, then switch to all decaf, then try tea or drinking decaf every other day. Quitting cold turkey works for some people, but in my experience, slowly tapering off of caffeine minimized the negative symptoms while positively reinforcing a new habit.

2. Prioritize sleep, fueling your body with high-quality protein and healthy fats, stress management, and hydration

Although your first reaction might be to turn on the coffee pot in the morning, focusing on hydration, stress management and nutrition will help you to feel more present throughout the day and likely reach for that second cup of coffee less often.

3. Begin to heal your body of things that made you feel like you “need” coffee, ie. check hormone, vitamin, and mineral levels

For many of us, the reason we are tired in the morning and “need” coffee is that we are deficient in some nutrients, not properly hydrating ourselves, not getting enough sleep, or may have an underlying imbalance in our body. Getting these levels checked by your doctor and re-balanced will help you to feel better and give you more natural energy.

4. Support your nervous system

Try switching out the afternoon cup of coffee for a 20-minute walk outside or start your morning with a cold shower. Both of these “wake up” your nervous system and have lasting effects throughout the day.

5. Rest!

Be patient with yourself! Depending on how sensitive your body is to caffeine, how long you have been drinking it and how often you drink it, it will take your body some time to adjust to life without. Your body is in recovering mode and it is normal to need more rest during this time.

While breakups of any kind are not easy, there is so much healing to experience in the aftermath. Quitting my caffeine addiction has helped me be less anxious, sleep better at night, have more energy in the mornings and throughout the day, work towards healing my gut and hormone issues, stabilize my blood sugar, and improve brain fog and mood throughout the day. Isn’t this sustained energy, focus, and regularity what we look for coffee to do for us, but never does anyway? 

If you are thinking of breaking up with your cup of coffee, try making my favorite Mint Matcha for St. Patty’s day! 

To more healthy living!