Does cutting out caffeine actual aid weightloss?

Mcmilligen

Yes.

And this is coming from a coffee SNOB.
My addiction arose after spending two weeks in Italy, and experiencing some of the best espresso I have ever tasted in my life. From there, I couldn't drink anything but my own espresso made at home. I then downgraded to Americanos. After that, I occasionally allowed myself coffee. I won't get in to the gritty details of the amount I was consuming (A LOT) , but eventually, this year, I finally experienced enough negative effects to quit the caffeine beast.

I was beginning to have debilitating migraines that would leave me bed ridden for days on end, unless I felt like puking my way to the bathroom. After thorough research, the only major effect I could think of was my extremely excessive consumption of caffeine (also in the form of chocolate, but mainly coffee).

HOW I QUIT:
I cut myself down to 1 cup a day. I did that for about a week, and yes it was difficult (headaches, inability to concentrate, very lethargic)

The next week, I began adding in homemade green juices (you could make smoothies). I found that stuff to be my savior, honestly. And when the withdrawals became BAD, I would have tea (with lesser caffeine than coffee). I may have had one cup of coffee that week on a really bad day.

The third week, I began Kris Carr's Adventure Cleanse, which consisted of drinking a big glass of green veggie juice every morning, as well as a big glass of lemon water. At this point, I was waking up without feeling the need to have coffee.
I would have a cup of tea mid-day maybe 2x this week.

After that, I pretty much was consuming zero caffeine. Hurrah! I even cut out chocolate for a bit in fear that the migraines would return.

UNEXPECTED RESULTS:
-No more headaches, let alone migraines. Ever. Unless I was at a really crazy concert or party the night before.
-After a few months of this, I began getting comments on weight loss. Sure enough, I had been losing weight without realizing (maybe 3 lbs or so).
-I have more energy than I remember having. Granted, I know I am not a night owl- so I do get tired early in the evening.
-I wake up at 7am with energy, and do not rely of caffeine to get myself out the door!!
-I am more PRODUCTIVE. I don't crash at 4PM like I used to. Instead, I just get hungry. Hah.

TIPS
-Drink SO MUCH WATER! SO MUCHHH WATTERRRRR! It feels good. Seriously. I find it's the cause of my occasional bouts of tiredness.
-Stay with it. It feels like crap the first month, but the rewards are worth it.
-Try juicing! The nutrients and natural sugar felt just like coffee when I first started doing it. There isn't a crash from it either, if you are using 80% vegetables in your juice (you might not even need any fruit).

Anyway, that's what worked for me. Feel free to message me if you want more details, or ignore me if you think everything I said is stupid. Your call!

DatMurse

Why would caffeine has been shown to aid in weight loss due to the fact it is an appetite suppressant and gives a minor metabolic boost. I dont know what any of you are talking about.

ostrichagain

Caffeine alone, no. I think it depends on how many calories you consume when you have caffeine. I consume caffeine in moderation, once or twice a day and usually none on the weekends. It's a drug I use to get through the day. Removing that from my life would not help me lose weight.

Baron_StrongerandSmarter

I've always found the opposite -- that ingesting caffeine causes me to lose weight (or rather, requires me to eat more so that I don't lose weight).

There's a reason that caffeine (a stimulant, which speeds up your heart rate) is a staple ingredient in most of the thermogenic fat burners that you see on the market. It's also part of the EC/ECA fat-burning stack classically used by bodybuilders (which I don't recommend because of the other part: ephedrine).

snazzyjazzy21

No.

Plus it comes in lots of delicious flavours so why give it up, unless you're caffeine sensitive?

MrGonzo05

Caffeine is not bad for you.

Morn66

Caffeine is not bad for you.

...unless it is. For me, a person with a severe cardiac arrhythmia, it can make life very unpleasant. As in, hospital-type unpleasant. As in, defibrillator unpleasant, which is all kinds of fun. When I was diagnosed with my heart condition, I had to give up all caffeine, immediately, completely cold turkey. I can't even have chocolate anymore, much less the chai I used to get at a local coffee place because they don't have a decaffeinated version. And I was a heavy addict, I'm afraid. I've never liked coffee, but I would drink at least a two-liter bottle of diet cola or Mountain Dew or Diet Dr. Pepper a day.

It's a horrible drug, really, that alters your nervous system. It is not as much a stimulant itself so much as it is chemically similar to adenosine, a substance that, among other things, is responsible for making you feel sleepy. So, it can bind to receptors in your central nervous system that are meant for adenosine, which helps your body to regulate its energy use and distribution, thus impeding the function of adenosine. So, it doesn't give you energy so much as it simply tricks your body into thinking that it isn't tired. The body responds by making more receptors to offset the effect of the caffeine, so you need more and more caffeine to get the desired effect. So, tolerance. And addiction. And, indeed, sometimes nasty withdrawal if you decide to (or have to) kick your addiction. And while none of this is fatal or overly harmful to a normal person, to me it's kind of...Well, I'm actually kind of glad that I had to kick it, glad to have zero addictions in my life...but I realize I'm not like everyone else.

But anyway, in terms of weight loss, I don't see how it'd have much effect. I do know it's part of the chemical cocktail in those "fat-burning" weight loss supplements they sell, and if it actually impeded weight loss to any great degree, I don't think that would be the case.

RaggedyPond

I drink coffee and coke zero. I put splenda and creamer in my coffee. I eat chocolate, popcorn, pizza, burgers. I am on birth control that makes be get my period every other week. I am having no problems losing weight.

DatMurse

Caffeine is not bad for you.

...unless it is. For me, a person with a severe cardiac arrhythmia, it can make life very unpleasant. As in, hospital-type unpleasant. As in, defibrillator unpleasant, which is all kinds of fun. When I was diagnosed with my heart condition, I had to give up all caffeine, immediately, completely cold turkey. I can't even have chocolate anymore, much less the chai I used to get at a local coffee place because they don't have a decaffeinated version. And I was a heavy addict, I'm afraid. I've never liked coffee, but I would drink at least a two-liter bottle of diet cola or Mountain Dew or Diet Dr. Pepper a day.

It's a horrible drug, really, that alters your nervous system. It is not as much a stimulant itself so much as it is chemically similar to adenosine, a substance that, among other things, is responsible for making you feel sleepy. So, it can bind to receptors in your central nervous system that are meant for adenosine, which helps your body to regulate its energy use and distribution, thus impeding the function of adenosine. So, it doesn't give you energy so much as it simply tricks your body into thinking that it isn't tired. The body responds by making more receptors to offset the effect of the caffeine, so you need more and more caffeine to get the desired effect. So, tolerance. And addiction. And, indeed, sometimes nasty withdrawal if you decide to (or have to) kick your addiction. And while none of this is fatal or overly harmful to a normal person, to me it's kind of...Well, I'm actually kind of glad that I had to kick it, glad to have zero addictions in my life...but I realize I'm not like everyone else.

But anyway, in terms of weight loss, I don't see how it'd have much effect. I do know it's part of the chemical cocktail in those "fat-burning" weight loss supplements they sell, and if it actually impeded weight loss to any great degree, I don't think that would be the case.

ok and what percentage of people suffer from the same effects that you do?

Stop blowing stuff out of proportion.

ret114

I have read a number of articles that state that caffeine in moderation can actually support weight loss. Most recently, I read in the September issue of Health Magazine that one cup of black coffee and two cups of green tea is optimal. I also read that it seems to be more effective to drink the caffeine about 1/2 hour before a workout. I always drink my coffee and tea ( switched from regular to recently green tea) black and unsweetened. Too much caffeine is unhealthy, but my doctor actually told me that 2-3 cups of coffee was ok, for me. Will not be giving up my coffee.

Morn66

ok and what percentage of people suffer from the same effects that you do?

Stop blowing stuff out of proportion.

Like I said, for most normal people who use the stuff in what most would call normal amounts, the effect of caffeine is not harmful. That doesn't change the fact that it's an addictive drug, and a rather highly addictive one at that, evidenced by half the planet, at least, being addicted to it. If a person chooses to be addicted to it, that's just fine and dandy by me. But that doesn't mean that I won't tell the truth about how it works and what it does to a person's central nervous system. I'm not blowing the effects out of proportion. Look it up for yourself, if you like.

That said, had I not had choice taken away from me, I probably would've kept right on happily drinking my Diet Coke...but in hindsight, I'm glad I'm not. I feel better, have more energy even in my condition without it and, like another poster, have not had a headache in months, when before I was having them often. All of this is not a judgement on anyone else; it's just how I feel about caffeine nowadays. I guess I just bristle at people making blanket statements about it not being "bad for you" when I know darn well that it is for some people. Granted, those people probably already know that it's bad for them...but then again, maybe not. My condition went undiagnosed for about 42 years. I have no doubt there are plenty of other people walking around like me. On the other hand, scare-mongering is bad. But describing how caffeine works, the effect of it on the central nervous system -- which is all well-known and documented -- is not scare-mongering.