Setanta wrote: Now, i drink one mug of coffee day, occasionally two, and i also go some days with no coffee at all. If i go two days with no caffeine in any form, though, i still get headaches, although not as bad as they used to be.
I would say that cutting down gradually is the way to go. Also try blending equal parts of compatible varieties of "regular" coffee with decaf so that you are also gradually reducing your caffeine addiction. That worked for me for a while, but there seems to be a core addiction with a minimum limit--i was never able to cut out the caffeine altogether. After all, you get caffeine in most forms of soda pop, and in chocolate.
Only once in my life did I give up caffeine entirely and pretty much all I did was sleep. I've never been good at going without-- so I drink a lot of tea too. Chocolate is a big part of it--- it definitely improves the quality of life.
Not much of a decaffeinated person, only because they use a chemical process to flush out the caffeine.
JPB wrote:That's going in the sigline thread
By all means. Even though the admission makes me a tad pathetic...
Are you familiar with
Pero, Gala? I used it the last time I was trying to cut back on caffeine.
JPB wrote:Are you familiar with
Pero, Gala? I used it the last time I was trying to cut back on caffeine.
I am familiar with it. It's one of those products where I'll buy it, make the first cup and say "hey, this isn't bad." Then comes the 2nd cup the next day and I'm in a state of deep regret.
I'll be able to find a small jar of instant organic coffee, say 2 -3 oz. which will cost anywhere between 8-15 dollars.
Do you have a local chocolate shop that carries coffee beans? You can chew coffee beans for the caffeine lift?
Bella Dea is correct: for a lot of people, a moderate intake of coffee has benefits--increased mental alertness, being one of the most positive. In South America, caffeine is used in both traditional folk medicine and modern medicine.
Alas, our individual body chemistries are moving targets; they naturally evolve in response to our inner and outer environments. This is why a substance that works well for you for years may quite suddenly fade in its effect to the point of uselessness--or it may start to bother your system.
People whose systems do not tolerate caffeine, when exposed to the stuff, develop feelings exactly like those of anxiety neurosis. "Coffee nerves" mimic anxiety neurosis.
I LOVED coffee, the higher test the better. I never drank more than one large mug with breakfast, but, facing a 50-mile commute to work at 6:30 AM, often over ice and rutted snow, I loved both the taste and the eyes-wide-open effect.
About five years ago, the caffeine--from coffee, good dark chocolate, etc.--began to make me feel wired. I didn't want to believe it, but it was true. Decaf coffee tasted so bland, I couldn't face it; it was so patently fakey. Therefore, I switched to loose green tea. The really good green tea tastes great, but the green tea I can afford to stock tastes like I've steeped grass clippings. We are talking about $20. vs. $5. for four ounces. Why should I, other than for the small but real health benefits from green tea, drink my lawn at $1.25 an ounce?
I still mourn the loss of my breakfast rocket fuel. But, hey, I can't go back, as I'd be flying and jittery half the day, so I am accustoming myself to Chamomile and Rose Hip teas. Okay taste, but it ain't coffee.
If you can drink real coffee, please have one for me!
Miklos7 wrote:If you can drink real coffee, please have one for me!
Miklos, I empathize. Thanks for your posting, I love reading a well-written story.
Noddy24 wrote:Do you have a local chocolate shop that carries coffee beans? You can chew coffee beans for the caffeine lift?
You are so smart. Another option, and it will save some steps. This means no wondering about shlepping a gallon of water with me, along with the spoon, the container of coffee, etc.
Gala--
My son used to chew coffee beans during exam weeks.
Back in my lab days I generally had a cigarette going and was starting or finishing some coffee. But I didn't really finish the coffee, as I like mine piping hot and toss it when it veers to lukewarm. (This was before microwaves' presence in the home and office.) Plus, whether the coffee was sitting there and the cigarette smoking away by itself, I wouldn't smoke or have coffee while actually doing tests. So, hard to say what a day's worth of this comfort nearby actually added up to in volume.
Time passed and I both worked and went to school, and I just stopped having little coffee/cigarette zones right near me. Stopped smoking entirely, and got coffee maybe twice a day.
Then came the espresso years, the whole effortful thing of making a cup and steaming some bit of milk. I found out I could get along with a relatively small bit of rich delicious coffee. I gradually cut out cokes and other sodas, and almost entirely stopped with them when I got to like bubbly mineral water.
Now the espresso macchina is in the garage somewhere and I just make a short pot of regular coffee in the morning.. and I've gone back to the tossing the lukewarm stuff out stage. So, max, a cup and a half actually ingested.
I drink tea once in a while, and like some of the blends by the Pixie company, or green tea and mint, or a friend's loose Assam - but mostly have a dessicating collection of inferior packaged tea bags that I'll throw out one of these days. I know bulk loose tea is better, but I don't care enough..
Maybe I'll use up those tea bags making pitchers of iced tea this summer.
Chocolate, now that I intend to never give up.
ossobuco wrote:Back in my lab days I generally had a cigarette going and was starting or finishing some coffee. But I didn't really finish the coffee, as I like mine piping hot and toss it when it veers to lukewarm.
Now the espresso macchina is in the garage somewhere and I just make a short pot of regular coffee in the morning.
Maybe I'll use up those tea bags making pitchers of iced tea this summer.
Chocolate, now that I intend to never give up.
It's hard to believe there was a time when smoking in the office/work environment/elevators happend.
What made you stop with the espresso machine? I think for me it would have too many steps involved. Plus, they take up space. I use one of those Melita hand pour the hot water over the coffee. I got it for a $1 at the Goodwill. And, I learned how to drink it black because buying milk is a hassle.
Life without chocolate is a life diminished.
What made me stop with the espresso machine is that I'm a lazy bum...
If I ever go to a good coffee place, which is not often at all here in Albuquerque, I'll usually order a macchiato for the luxurious pleasure of it, though sometimes a latte. Back when I lived in northern California, there were three good coffee places within a couple of blocks of our studio/gallery; there's a pretty big dearth of them here. (And starbucks doesn't count.) So since I've pretty much stopped with espresso, at home or out, I really enjoy it when I do get one. I do have one of those italian stovetop gadgets that I plan to use one of these days. Will post a photo. Got it at the Salvation Army, natch.
edit to add -
[quote="Gala"]
That's a lot of coffee. Did you get jittery? Trouble sleeping at night? What made you decide to cut back?[/quote]
Not really sure...
I never had any problems and I think I slept better than I do now...
However, one day it just occured to me, like you said:
That's a lot of coffee.
I used to drink more tea, while living in England, since there was usually only instant, which I don't like, so I decided to go back to drinking tea.
