Getting off Coffee - Round 2, Day 4

As the lovely and effervescent Laura mentioned in Husband Health Update, I am sadly ending my long-standing relationship with coffee. For me, coffee has always been about the caffeine. I love caffeine. It clears the cobwebs out of my head and helps me think faster. I have spent lots of time perfecting my technique for making the perfect pot of coffee:

• Buy organic, shade-grown, fair-trade, whole-bean, French Roast coffee
• Store the beans in a dark, cool cupboard
• Grind them daily using a burr grinder (never the oh-so-gauche blade type grinders, please...)
• 1/3 cup of ground coffee into the French Press, steep for 12 minutes
• Keep coffee warm in my old, java stained REI steel-lined vacuum thermos
• Nothing added, black! I gave up adding cream three years ago

My morning coffee ritual has become comforting and dependable. But, now I am finally quitting. Why? There are many reasons (feeling powerless over this addiction, lowering cholesterol, and the fact that Laura finally deserves a break from my awesome coffee breath, just to name three), but the main one is that I cannot know the true effect that our style of eating is having on my ADD-addled brain when I keep myself jacked up on caffeine all the time.

My first idea was to try mixing Teeccino (caffeine-free herbal coffee substitute) into my coffee as a way to gradually cut the caffeine. If you have not tried Teeccino, my advice is... don't! Actually, it is not that bad - if you are not comparing it to coffee. If your basis for comparison is a nice hot drink that tastes like tree bark with a delectable hint of figs, you'll love it. The Teeccino experiment lasted just two days; taste buds rebelled, headaches ensued, game over.

Last week I visited my Dr. of Oriental Medicine. He told me that I am at a place nutritionally where we could start work on naturally enhancing the neurotransmitter activity in my brain... after I had been off of caffeine for six months! So, now I am on day four of quitting.

I am doing a 50/50 mix of regular and decaf beans. I was surprised to learn that "decaf" coffee can have as much as 60% of the caffeine of regular coffee (depending on the process used to remove the caffeine). Whatever! The plan is to gradually reduce the amount of "real" coffee to decaf coffee beans in weekly increments. Next week it will be 60/40, then 70/30, and so on till I am at 100% decaf. Eventually I will be drinking caffeinated tea. Caffeinated tea has less caffeine than decaf coffee.

Today is day four of 50/50...and I am finally beginning to feel a little bit normal. The first day I didn't notice much difference. I think I had so much caffeine built up that I was cruising on the overflow. Day two was awful...I didn't feel like I was awake until 11:00am, I picked a fight with Laura (which rarely happens), and was generally unpleasant to be around all day.  Day three was a little better, but I had a headache all day until the evening. I have had some really wacky dreams. Day four (today) I am feeling much better!

I'll let you know how it goes during the next transition.

Ryan

Comments

[Hanlie]

Hi Ryan! I love how husbands are getting involved in blogging this month (Male Health Month). I really commend you for tackling this addiction... In the long run it will benefit your health tremendously. The first week or so you will feel tired, but pretty soon you will notice a return of natural, non-stimulated energy. The headaches normally disappear round about Day 3 or 4, so you're right on schedule. And don't stop when you get to caffeinated tea (which contains other nasties), but continue right on to herbal teas. Rooibos (red bush) is particularly rich in antioxidants and has many health benefits.

But that's for later! One step at a time, and you are doing great!