Quitting coffee

My heart breaks.... just kidding!! It works better for some, some people like it for the extra energy for their workouts.

Do what is best for you!! Best of luck!!

I tried and it just didn't work out for me.. I just drink french press coffee with a little bit of unsweetened vanilla soy milk and a tablespoon of all natural syrup. It comes out to about 75 cals (or less) and I still get my caffeine fix

I just did this! I had my last cup last Saturday. I got sick on Monday and have felt worse then ever since! Today....no voice. My kids are thrilled, me not so much. I picked the wrong week to give up coffee!!!!!!

I went 2 weeks with no caffeine. The first few days were AWFUL, the next few were tolerable, by the end of the 2 weeks I felt like I had more energy early in the day but I still got sleepy faster later in the day. When 2 weeks were up I got myself a latte and I realized I love caffeine WAY too much to not have it! I can go a day without though, which is nice to not feel like I need it. But I prefer the way I feel WITH caffeine.
Not sure if this helps at all!

I think as long as you aren't chugging venti quad shots all day, you're probably doing just fine. If you think you're drinking too much, I would say try cutting back to maybe just one cup in the morning to get you going and stay away from it the rest of the day. Coffee is one thing I can't/don't want to give up, I love it. I have really reduced how much I drink though.

i wish you the best. I can't, because I love it tooooo much to quit and I have to have some sort of vice! (I do watch my intake of lattes, due to the extra calories though) :drinker:

http://sanmateoteamelite.com/2010/05/coffee-cortisol-levels-and-stress/

COFFEE AND CORTISOL (again, my heart breaks!)

May 20, 2010


Anyone who knows me well also knows I’ve got a cup of coffee or tea (sometimes both) glued to my hand(s) at pretty much any hour of the day. Having my morning coffee has become more than just a dose of “wake up juice”. It’s a ritual that is comforting, soothing and stimulating. However, this psychological ritual also applies to having a cup of coffee again in the afternoon and maybe a couple glasses of black/green tea in the evening. In fact, I consume so much caffeine that I can literally drink a cup of coffee before bed and fall asleep fine. In addition, I’ve noticed that although I drink a cup of coffee around 1pm, expecting a kick in the energy department, often times I’m left feeling the exact same, sometimes even more tired than before. While my energy levels tank, my body and mind feel wired, almost like they’re in a high state of stress. Just before my face crashes into my desk, that little voice in my head asks, “What the hell, bro?”

All of this info above led me into some research on caffeine, time of day, and a little stress hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone, produced by the adrenal glands, that is made to increase blood pressure, spike blood sugar and prepare the body for “fight or flight” mode. Primally speaking, it was/is a very useful hormone in keeping our species alive and quite useful for the functional athlete in a high stress situation. Interestingly, our body naturally produces cortisol at its highest levels in the morning and lowest just after bed time.

While cortisol is a good thing during competition or battle, too much cortisol has negative side effects. First off, because it is a stress hormone, our bodies natural levels of immunity suffer when it comes into play. Also, high levels of cortisol over-stress the body, resulting in eventual slower recovery, adrenal fatigue, and burnout.

Below is a list of the effects of cortisol:

Insulin resistance and belly fat
Loss of collagen from skin (think lines on your face)
Gastric secretion, which is why heart burn can be an issue while you’re stressed
Loss of potassium
Bone metabolism from lack of potassium and reduced calcium absorption in the intenstine
Inhibits long term memory and cooperate with adrenaline to produce “memories of short term emotional events.
Factors that reduce cortisol:

Magnesium supplementation, especially after exercise
Omega 3’s – reduces mental stress, not just inflammation
Music
Massage
Laughing
Vitamin C
Black Tea – (woo hoo) Actually black tea is said to repair the adrenal gland from a fatigued state of overproducing cortisol.
So what factors raise cortisol?

Coffee – knew that was coming, more later…
Sleep deprivation
Over training/physical exertion
Some contraceptive pills
Severe trauma/stress
Long commutes
Caffeine and cortisol secretion

Of all these factors, I was most interested in my favorite brew and why it may be “stressing me out”. Which led me to another article, linking caffeine to cortisol secretion. It’s a brilliant study, just what I was looking for. Accordingly, coffee increases cortisol secretion of people undergoing mental stress. However, cortisol levels are directly linked to the time of day caffeine is ingested…Ah ha!

Basically, the study found that caffeine ingested early in the morning (9am) has little to no effect on cortisol levels in adults whose system was already “conditioned” to the effects of caffeine. Meaning, if you drink coffee/tea already, cortisol was not elevated. If the adults were not regular caffeinated drinkers, then morning cortisol levels were raised as result. What I found interesting was the fact that a second cup of coffee, around 1pm, raised cortisol levels significantly for both the caffeine and non-caffeine drinkers. These levels stayed high throughout the afternoon in the early evening.

So what does this mean for the conscientious coffee drinker and athlete? For me, I’ll tailor coffee consumption to one cup in the morning and cut out my afternoon drink. I’ll also make an effort to decrease overall caffeine consumption and most likely cycle black tea and green tea in every couple days, and resort to drinking that in the late afternoon. I’ve realized that an extra coffee in the afternoon is effectively stressing my system to the point that my body goes into shut down mode. As an athlete and a busy father, the last thing I need is a self-induced “shut down mode”. I’ll also work on de-stressing during the day, whether its with music, massage, lifting heavy objects or karate chopping watermelons in my garage.

I have an on again off again relationship with coffee, I'll give it up for months only to start drinking it again later. I mostly drink it black, or with just a smidge of cream and sugar, so it's not a calorie issue. But the caffeine addiction is a real problem for me. When we're 'on', if I miss a morning cup of coffee I'm left with a hellacious headache that nothing will fix except a huge dose of caffeine.

When we're off and I'm looking for a pick-me-up, I drink mate. It does have caffeine, but less than half of what's in most coffee. It also has a chemical related to it caffeine which isn't associated with many of the negative effects from caffeine (look it up on wikipedia for details if you're interested). I actually like mate more than coffee, but only with lots of cream and sugar so I don't really like to use it regularly. It doesn't give me the jitters like too much caffeine will and I have no withdrawal headaches. If I could learn to drink it plain I would totally switch permanently.

Quiting coffee would be like giving up sex. Not going to happen. I drink about 6 cups a day. Both have incredible health benefits. No reason to give up coffee.

I've actually never been a big coffee person, so I can't say if it would be better or worse to go cold turkey or gradually decrease the amount you drink, but it can't hurt to at least stick with quitting for a while and see how you feel (once you're not craving it, at least!), and if it feels better for you. I DO drink tons of tea though - black, white, green etc. - so you might want to try doing that instead (and work your way down caffeine levels there!).

Thanks! I usually have two coffees a day (with 2 shots of espresso so 4 total shots) - one first thing in the morning, or around 830-9am and then 1 after lunch. I do it for a few reasons
- it helps a bit with appetite control
- I take a while to drink it so it keeps my hands busy
- it gives me some sort of energy boost (whether it's psychosomatic or not I don't know)
- I really really really love the taste

After reading about the cortisol thing I might try cutting out my afternoon coffee and have black tea instead. I've been meaning to do this just so I can cut out the 180 calories my coffees 'cost' every day :P

You all should try advocare spark or coffecino. Yummy!

[So usefull...puts things in perspective. Many thanks]

http://sanmateoteamelite.com/2010/05/coffee-cortisol-levels-and-stress/

COFFEE AND CORTISOL (again, my heart breaks!)

May 20, 2010


Anyone who knows me well also knows I’ve got a cup of coffee or tea (sometimes both) glued to my hand(s) at pretty much any hour of the day. Having my morning coffee has become more than just a dose of “wake up juice”. It’s a ritual that is comforting, soothing and stimulating. However, this psychological ritual also applies to having a cup of coffee again in the afternoon and maybe a couple glasses of black/green tea in the evening. In fact, I consume so much caffeine that I can literally drink a cup of coffee before bed and fall asleep fine. In addition, I’ve noticed that although I drink a cup of coffee around 1pm, expecting a kick in the energy department, often times I’m left feeling the exact same, sometimes even more tired than before. While my energy levels tank, my body and mind feel wired, almost like they’re in a high state of stress. Just before my face crashes into my desk, that little voice in my head asks, “What the hell, bro?”

All of this info above led me into some research on caffeine, time of day, and a little stress hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone, produced by the adrenal glands, that is made to increase blood pressure, spike blood sugar and prepare the body for “fight or flight” mode. Primally speaking, it was/is a very useful hormone in keeping our species alive and quite useful for the functional athlete in a high stress situation. Interestingly, our body naturally produces cortisol at its highest levels in the morning and lowest just after bed time.

While cortisol is a good thing during competition or battle, too much cortisol has negative side effects. First off, because it is a stress hormone, our bodies natural levels of immunity suffer when it comes into play. Also, high levels of cortisol over-stress the body, resulting in eventual slower recovery, adrenal fatigue, and burnout.

Below is a list of the effects of cortisol:

Insulin resistance and belly fat
Loss of collagen from skin (think lines on your face)
Gastric secretion, which is why heart burn can be an issue while you’re stressed
Loss of potassium
Bone metabolism from lack of potassium and reduced calcium absorption in the intenstine
Inhibits long term memory and cooperate with adrenaline to produce “memories of short term emotional events.
Factors that reduce cortisol:

Magnesium supplementation, especially after exercise
Omega 3’s – reduces mental stress, not just inflammation
Music
Massage
Laughing
Vitamin C
Black Tea – (woo hoo) Actually black tea is said to repair the adrenal gland from a fatigued state of overproducing cortisol.
So what factors raise cortisol?

Coffee – knew that was coming, more later…
Sleep deprivation
Over training/physical exertion
Some contraceptive pills
Severe trauma/stress
Long commutes
Caffeine and cortisol secretion

Of all these factors, I was most interested in my favorite brew and why it may be “stressing me out”. Which led me to another article, linking caffeine to cortisol secretion. It’s a brilliant study, just what I was looking for. Accordingly, coffee increases cortisol secretion of people undergoing mental stress. However, cortisol levels are directly linked to the time of day caffeine is ingested…Ah ha!

Basically, the study found that caffeine ingested early in the morning (9am) has little to no effect on cortisol levels in adults whose system was already “conditioned” to the effects of caffeine. Meaning, if you drink coffee/tea already, cortisol was not elevated. If the adults were not regular caffeinated drinkers, then morning cortisol levels were raised as result. What I found interesting was the fact that a second cup of coffee, around 1pm, raised cortisol levels significantly for both the caffeine and non-caffeine drinkers. These levels stayed high throughout the afternoon in the early evening.

So what does this mean for the conscientious coffee drinker and athlete? For me, I’ll tailor coffee consumption to one cup in the morning and cut out my afternoon drink. I’ll also make an effort to decrease overall caffeine consumption and most likely cycle black tea and green tea in every couple days, and resort to drinking that in the late afternoon. I’ve realized that an extra coffee in the afternoon is effectively stressing my system to the point that my body goes into shut down mode. As an athlete and a busy father, the last thing I need is a self-induced “shut down mode”. I’ll also work on de-stressing during the day, whether its with music, massage, lifting heavy objects or karate chopping watermelons in my garage.

Great read, thanks!
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