Cutting coffee?

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bgh707
bgh707 Posts: 164 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Has anyone ever tried cutting down or back entirely on coffee? How has it been for you?
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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    I've done it a few times over the years, generally found it miserable for a while and then no big deal.

    For me personally I find that coffee doesn't hurt my ability to sleep, negatively impact my fitness goals, or hurt my health, so I just enjoy it.

    But if you want to quit for whatever reason, I'd say be prepared to have a few days of headaches, irritation, and feeling more tired than usual (unless you replace it with something else that contains caffeine).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I love my coffee...I have a few cups in the morning so I don't really see it as a problem. It's full of antioxidants and has a decent amount of potassium.
  • bgh707
    bgh707 Posts: 164 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I love my coffee...I have a few cups in the morning so I don't really see it as a problem. It's full of antioxidants and has a decent amount of potassium.
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    I've done it a few times over the years, generally found it miserable for a while and then no big deal.

    For me personally I find that coffee doesn't hurt my ability to sleep, negatively impact my fitness goals, or hurt my health, so I just enjoy it.

    But if you want to quit for whatever reason, I'd say be prepared to have a few days of headaches, irritation, and feeling more tired than usual (unless you replace it with something else that contains caffeine).

    I also love coffee. But recently, I've been noticing some bloating and other gastrointestinal distress. I skipped my second cup this morning and already notice a difference, but could be coincidental.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    I cut out soda and replaced it with coffee. Not getting rid of my coffee now. And cutting soda had absolutely no effect on my weight, health or anything else so I don't see any reason to get rid of coffee too.
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,365 Member
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    Why would you do this to yourself?!?!?!? My coworkers know that until I have had coffee they do not approach me!

    Let me add - I did give up all forms of caffeine several years ago and the only downside that I found was that I had more kidney stones during that period than during the rest of my life while having caffeine - just my n=1 experience and can't explain it (possibly the diuretic effect of flushing my kidneys because of the caffeine, but I really don't know). Also, if you regularly have caffeine, withdrawal is usually accompanied by headaches (sometimes severe) for the first 3-5 days.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
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    I gave up coffee for Lent last year. I never had the first headache or other symptom of withdrawal. At the end, my BP was much lower than my doc likes so I took it back up because it's not calorie dense and tastes better than just eating salt.

  • lulalacroix
    lulalacroix Posts: 1,082 Member
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    I did cut out my love, coffee. I think it's been a couple of years now and I still miss it dearly. I have terrible GERD and no amount of medication allows me to drink coffee comfortably. I drink tea and 0 calorie energy drinks now, so I'm still getting my daily caffeine. Every once in a while I still have about 1/2 cup of coffee, for nostalgia.
  • brb_2013
    brb_2013 Posts: 1,197 Member
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    I have before and never stuck to it long, but this time is different because I know I don't want to make room for cream anymore

    I tried about three weeks of black coffee, love the taste but my stomach couldn't handle it. Started having heartburn for hours, even into the afternoon. Since I switched to black tea I haven't had heartburn and frankly I just don't miss it as much because A. It hurt me, and B. I REALLY like food versus creamer.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
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    brb_2013 wrote: »
    I have before and never stuck to it long, but this time is different because I know I don't want to make room for cream anymore

    I tried about three weeks of black coffee, love the taste but my stomach couldn't handle it. Started having heartburn for hours, even into the afternoon. Since I switched to black tea I haven't had heartburn and frankly I just don't miss it as much because A. It hurt me, and B. I REALLY like food versus creamer.

    Cream (real.dairy, full fat) might be my favorite food. Coffee is a delivery system.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
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    Tapering is definitely the name of the game if you drink a lot of it.

    I've cut coffee a few times over the years because I thought it was the cause of my 24/7 diarrhea. I think it was the fat in the cream, though, because since I've had to lay off of a lot of fatty foods, the runs are gone and i'm drinking loads more coffee black then I ever did sweetened and creamed.
  • jillybeansalad
    jillybeansalad Posts: 239 Member
    edited January 2017
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    Excedrin helps with the caffeine withdrawal headaches when I cut back or just don't get my coffee for whatever reason.
  • Cylphin60
    Cylphin60 Posts: 863 Member
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    I went down to 2 small cups a day from 4 rather large mugs with no issues, but I don't see myself cutting it out entirely unless my doc tells me to. No need to (for me) at the moment.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
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    I've done it for a couple of reasons, but it was never intended to be long-term. It was always because I wanted to temporarily increase caffeine sensitivity or because I wasn't going to have access to coffee and wanted to cut slowly rather than quickly.

    The best advice I can give is to cut very slowly. If you consume as much caffeine as I do, this can take weeks or months.
  • jacobhillman
    jacobhillman Posts: 39 Member
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    Coffee is my replacement for energy drinks. haha
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,365 Member
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    jillybeansalad wrote: »
    Excedrin helps with the caffeine withdrawal headaches when I cut back or just don't get my coffee for whatever reason.

    Excedrine helps because one of the active ingredients is caffeine...

    EXCEDRIN Extra-Strength Pain Reliever (Bristol-Myers) Active Ingredients: Each tablet, caplet, or geltab contains Acetaminophen 250 mg, Aspirin 250 mg, and Caffeine 65 mg.
  • upoffthemat
    upoffthemat Posts: 679 Member
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    I almost never drink it anymore because my stomach and it don't get along well at all. I miss it. If I could drink it comfortably I would.
  • Kristina79Marie
    Kristina79Marie Posts: 580 Member
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    December 26 I quit smoking cold turkey and had to quit coffee. I always smoked more when drinking coffee and they say to quit smoking you have to quit the vice that goes with it.

    I used the crystal light grape with caffeine for the first two days along with a headache med. the headaches eventually subsided to where I didn't have caffeine w/d's anymore
  • nursekirsty
    nursekirsty Posts: 110 Member
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    I am now two weeks coffee free, but I had high blood pressure and anxiety both of which (along with good diet changes and exercises) have vastly improved
  • channing2610
    channing2610 Posts: 11 Member
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    I found that once I cut out sodas I picked up coffee habit. I only drink it during the week in the morning before work... never drink it on the weekend. My nutritionist told me it was a free food, I guess it's what I add too it maybe..Idk...I actually had that same thought this morning
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
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    Seriously??? I did a cleanse and omitted coffee for the week a bunch of years ago and promised myself I would never be that stupid again, haha. I have cut down to a few cups per day and only before 10:30am and never get the afternoon yawns now though. Everything is OK in moderation!

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