According to the National Coffee Association’s 2013 study around 83% of Americans drink coffee. How did so many of us come to rely on caffeine in our daily lives? From jittery hands to headaches when we haven’t had a cup in the last two hours, the socially accepted ritual might not be as good for us as we would like it to be.
Here are some useful tips to reduce or quit your caffeine addiction:
Morning Switch-up
If you need caffeine to help you wake up in the morning, try switching up your morning routine. Wake up a little earlier and get some fresh air or drink more water. Due to not eating or drinking anything while we sleep, we wake up dehydrated – an even greater excuse to drink 1-2 cups of water in the morning.
Reward Yourself
Use coffee/caffeine as a reward; don’t just drink it to drink it. Only turn to it once you’ve completed that paper or have gone to your first class of the day.
Cold Turkey Works for No One
Cut back slowly, don’t just quit cold turkey; you’re going to go back to caffeine hard after a week of cutting it out completely (I know this from experience)
Limit Yourself
If you’re like me, you drink about 6 cups of coffee a day. In order to cut back, put a limit on how much you consume. Throughout a week you can go from 5 cups on Monday to 1 cup on Friday. After that just limit yourself to just one cup of coffee a day and then see if you can reduce that.
Eat Energizing Foods
Substitute bad caffeine for good caffeine and eat more high-fiber carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Drink More Water
Drinking more water might satisfy that urge to always be drinking that coffee or soda you think you need to have in your hand.
Different Drinks
If it’s just a hot drink that you need for comfort, try drinking herbal teas, water with no calorie flavoring, or maybe even just hot water.
Chill Man
I’ve noticed a pattern in my weekly life – I only drink coffee on days when I have work or class. On the weekends when I have less going on I don’t feel the need to consume caffeine at all. So, in your busy life make time to just relax a little and slow down. You might find that you aren’t as dependent on caffeine as you think you are.