Caffeine is a powerful stimulant that can disrupt your sleep, exhausts your adrenal glands and creates an acidic state in the body which makes it more prone to sickness. What I noticed for myself, when I drink coffee in the morning, it sets me up to be hungry earlier and usually for carbs and sweets.
If you’ve been relying on coffee to get your day started and quitting seems unthinkable, I have a plan that should help taper that caffeine intake gradually over the next week.
Here’s the 7-Day Approach, starting on a Friday.
Friday:
Have your usual amount of coffee.
Saturday to Monday:
Blend your coffee 50-50 with decaf. (Or, simply cut the number of cups you drink in half. For example if you generally drink 4 cups of coffee, cut that to 2 for these three days.)
Tuesday to Wednesday:
Blend 25 percent regular coffee with 75 percent decaf. (or, cut the number of cups in half again. If you were at 4, then 2, go down to 1 per day)
Wednesday:
Start drinking herbal tea. If necessary, opt for green tea, weak black tea or Yerba Mate. These have some caffeine but are gentler on your system than coffee. You can switch things up with tasty flavors, like cinnamon, black cherry berry, pomegranate, or peach blossom.
Friday:
Eliminate that last cup of coffee!
Here are some additional tips as you transition to caffeine-free for life:
- Replace your morning coffee “experience” with this: a cup of hot water with a squeeze of lemon and touch of cayenne pepper.
- Drink a full glass of water immediately upon rising in the morning, and 6 to 8 glasses throughout the day. Keeping hydrated will flush the toxins out of your system and minimize possible headaches.
- Exercise daily to fight off fatigue.
- Be kind to your body and tap a nap if you find you require additional during the transition.
- Supplement with 1000 – 2000 milligrams of vitamin C powder or capsules. This helps you to balance and detox your system.
- If your stomach is upset, drink ginger peppermint tea.
- Another option: Dandelion root coffee, which contains no caffeine and is made of dried, chopped, and roasted dandelion roots.
This plan is gradual and should reduce your physical cravings and ease your caffeine withdrawal symptoms. You may have a headache for 2-3 days, but these will reside by the fourth day. Soon you’ll be amazed by how good you feel with more refreshing sleep and more energy when you stop drinking coffee.
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