IT’S OFFICIAL, I AM CAFFEINE FREE! I never thought I would be able to give up coffee let alone caffeine entirely, but here I am.
I gave it up because I realized it was affecting my sleep and mood, even though I had been in denial about this for years!
I am such a proponent for stress management yet here I was loading up on caffeine all day every day. I don’t believe that’s a picture of health! CAFFEINE STRESSES THE BODY! We like to think coffee gives us energy when in reality it is the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline that we are feeling.
Caffeine is a drug. It hits the body on every level, but feels too good to seem bad! Like any drug, so long as it keeps flowing you don’t realize the depths that it is taking you and your health.
Caffeine only masks fatigue, it does not give you energy. In fact, it hides from you the fatigue you are feeling which is a message from your body telling you to slow down or else!
Being caffeine sober just 2 weeks has shown be more balanced energy, better mood, better sleep quality (deeper, not longer) my skin has improved, digestion better than ever in my life, blood sugar more stable and weight hovering slightly lower than before. My appetite has diminished a bit and even fewer cravings, which could be attributed to the copious amounts of fat and butter I consume every day.
Coffee and Caffeine Damages the Body…
Caffeine destroys your adrenal function, therefor disrupting ALL hormone function. It steals your energy. The increase you feel in energy is simply a stress response in which cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine have been released into your bloodstream. It’s simply masks fatigue.
Caffeine accelerates aging, from organs to skin…This is because it annihilates important growth hormones needed for repair and such as DHEA and IGF –1.
Caffeine damages DNA 🧬 by causing replication error, inhibiting repair and magnifying damage of other mutagens.
But, I use coffee to intermittent fast…
But how will I intermittent fast without my coffee?? I have actually stopped my intermittent fasting and instead eat fat upon waking, high-fat breakfast at the first sign of hunger and finish earlier in the day. My weight is stable, maybe less and body fat seems to have decreased. I’ll continue periodically to practice extended fasts.
How I finally quit…
You might think, I love my coffee so much. I could never quit! I was obsessed with coffee too! For me, I went cold turkey and just had herbal tea. If you are a long-time coffee drinker, I would advise that you NOT do that. I had very bad headaches, insomnia, depression, anxiety, constipation and low energy for weeks. The degree of withdrawal will be different for every person, but most will have at least some discomfort. Easing off is more comfortable than cold turkey. You can also take small doses of caffeine pills if you are a heavy caffeine user.
So there you go, I’m done with caffeine and never going back!
What about you?? Are you addicted to coffee? Ever consider giving it up?? If you want to learn more, read the book Caffeine Blues!