I like coffee. Maybe too much. I used to drink four cups of Nespresso in the morning—the darkest roast I could find. I craved my first cup, and by the third, I knew I shouldn’t go to the kitchen to make a fourth, but I don’t always listen to my better judgment. Turns out, each of those pods has 100 milligrams of caffeine. That can add up very quickly.
So, when my ex-partner, author Jeff Pearlman, shared on Twitter that he had quit caffeine in August, I wondered if I should too. Here’s what happened when I quit caffeine.
Why I decided to give up caffeine
I pay the price for that 400 mg of Nespresso-based caffeine. I often started feeling jittery, and if I didn’t eat breakfast, my stomach would get upset.
As someone who drank a lot of coffee, Pearlman also hated the way it made him feel. “I’m asking for first aid,” he told me. But then I drank and drank and drank, and by 3 pm, I needed to sleep. It makes my hands shake and my mind race. I work in coffee shops a lot, so turf came with it. But after a while, I had to change.”
Pearlman switched to decaf and said it was surprisingly easy to give up caffeine. He says: “I didn’t miss it. He’s not 100% done with coffee, he adds. “Sometimes, if there’s a caffeinated coffee I like, I’ll have 70% decaf, 30% flavored. Just the taste, the texture. But it was completely easy. No headaches, no begging.”
So after mulling it over for a few months, I decided to give it a try.
What happens when I give up caffeine
Some of the short-term effects of caffeine withdrawal can include:
- A headache
- Fatigue
- Fatigue and fatigue
- Anger
- Poor eyesight
- Decreased satisfaction and well-being
- A little inspiration
Like Pearlman, it was easier than I thought to give up caffeine. I love the taste of coffee and I drink mine black. So switching to decaf pods does the trick. However, unlike Pearlman, I had negative results. On the first day I had a headache..
“The headache experience, which is very common, is a symptom of withdrawal from caffeine dependence,” says Kara Fitzgerald, author of the book. The Younger You: Reduce Your Lifespan and Live Longer, Better. “It’s temporary but it can be really hard to hurt and it keeps many of us wanting a caffeine fix to avoid withdrawal.”
I also felt tired all day for the first two weeks. That’s because not using caffeine can make you sluggish at first, reducing your energy and ability to focus, says Hayley Miller, a registered dietitian at Persona, a personal vitamin and supplement company. “The good news is, this will be short-lived—due to the human body’s amazing ability to adapt. You can expect to regain your mental clarity and focus within a few weeks of quitting.”
Long-Term Effects of Quitting Caffeine
It took a while, but my focus finally balanced out and seemed consistent throughout the day instead of waking up in the morning and slowing down in the afternoon.
I slept better too. I only had caffeine in the morning, and the fact that it could affect my sleep surprised me. “You got the best benefits by giving up caffeine,” Fitzgerald said. “Since it’s a strong stimulant, it easily enters the brain and blocks adenosine receptors, the first benefit of quitting is improved sleep.”
Fitzgerald says the half-life of caffeine is an average of five hours. “It’s a long time for some of us who have slow biotransformation enzymes,” he explains. This means that to completely remove caffeine from the body, it can take more than 10 hours. No wonder it affects sleep. Those of us who drink less can have more problems, including high blood sugar and blood pressure, altered exercise tolerance, and an increased risk of non-fatal heart attacks.” (He says that direct-to-consumer genetic tests like 23andMe may be able to tell you whether or not you’re using caffeine too quickly.)
Quitting coffee has another benefit: “Since caffeine is a diuretic—meaning it speeds up urine production—you’ll find this change will reduce your trips to the bathroom,” says Miller. “Even better, going caffeine-free can actually improve your nutrition by helping your body absorb B vitamins and other important nutrients. In other words, giving up coffee can help you get more out of your diet.”
Benefits of Caffeine
Although Fitzgerald says the evidence is still emerging scientifically, caffeine may be an agent of longevity. He says: “It looks like flies, mice and worms.” “People’s studies are lacking. It is also thought to be neuroprotective in moderation in humans, [meaning it] it protects against age-related diseases such as dementia or Parkinson’s.”
If you look beyond caffeine in a vehicle that contains caffeine, such as coffee or tea, you will find that both beverages are recommended for containing phytochemicals that are also beneficial.
“When we look at human studies of coffee drinkers, we see that they tend to live longer—caffeinated or not,” Fitzgerald said. “I personally love my daily morning coffee habit and appreciate those beneficial phytochemicals. I don’t have it after one o’clock in the morning unless it’s the occasional decaf, which allows me to sleep well at night.”
Caffeine is a natural stimulant, and Miller says it’s a great way to get a burst of energy in the morning and fight off afternoon blackouts. “But too much of anything is never good,” he said. You should not drink more than the equivalent of four cups of coffee a day.
Can giving up caffeine change your life?
It’s been a month since I started testing, and to be honest, I’m not sure if I’ll go back. I love the quality of sleep I have now, but I miss that little burst of energy that caffeine gives me. I might try an occasional cup or a combination of regular and decaf to see what happens.
Miller says the decision not to use caffeine should depend on your lifestyle and the reasons for using it. “If you drink coffee for the taste or because you like a latte at a local coffee shop, then quitting is probably not necessary,” he says. “If you rely on caffeine to power you through the day, there may be other factors at play: Your sleep quality, stress levels, or the food you eat may affect your ability to stay alert and focused. It’s better to manage your energy through lifestyle choices than depending on that cup of Joe.”
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