Are you thinking about quitting coffee? It might help to improve your overall work productivity and your personal life because, contrary to popular belief, it isn’t the stimulant we think it is. If you are thinking about quitting coffee, this blog intends to explore why subtracting something from you life is good, what caffeine does to your brain and body, how it affects your productivity, and what you can do to quit. If you have any questions regrading the coffee/caffeine debate refer to further sources embedded in the article.
Subtraction Is Usually A Good Thing
Isn’t it interesting that New Year resolutions generally involve subtracting something from our lives? Caffeine, cigarettes, sugar, over-eating, too much t.v. or some other indulgence or immoderate habit. But oftentimes a resolution can be the addition of a healthier habit (but doesn’t this ultimately also lead to the subtraction of time spent doing less healthier activities?) Yes subtraction and addition are highly linked when it comes to what we allocate our time towards each day.There are trade-offs with every choice we make. Hence, existential angst.
When deciding if you should quit something, it might be helpful to know that subtraction (i.e. quitting caffeine) is highly linked to meditative practices. Meditation comes in many forms but the goal and techniques generally relate to each other: to feel a sense of union, peace, and serenity through emptying the mind of the wild and crazy noise it constantly makes (sometimes like a monkey driving a locomotive on a frozen lake). So subtraction is something we do to get closer to feeling a sense of connection with ourselves, others, and life in general. Is this why we make resolutions? To get rid of non-necessities and further the inner-awakening of our lives?
This author has decided to quit caffeine as a way to clear the mind. To think about something other than that first cup of coffee in the morning. To get away from the constant need for immediate gratification and focus more on the tasks at hand. But if you are thinking about quitting caffeine, you might want to find out more information about what it does to your body and how quitting affects your quality of life.
So, when is quitting caffeine a good idea?
Well, first we will have to understand what caffeine does to your brain. There are a number of highly readable articles about caffeine and it’s affects on our body and brain. Try this one from LifeHacker and this one from Dr. Hyman’s website.
What Caffeine Does To Our Brain and Body
The Brain
To sum up, caffeine is not the stimulant we assume it to be. Caffeine actually acts as an indirect stimulant by inhibiting the receptors in our brain that make us sleepy. These are receptors for adenosine, a byproduct created from our neurons constantly firing that eventually tells our brain to go to sleep.
Caffeine mimics adenosine and plugs up the adenosine receptors. This keeps our brain from telling us “it’s time to go to sleep” and thereby allows our brain’s house-made stimulants, dopamine and glutamine, to take full reign over our brains activity. You get a rush and a high not because coffee is stimulating the production of dopamine and glutamine, but because it’s allowing them to work without getting bogged down by adenosine. It’s not like cocaine or amphetamine in that sense of a drug, which makes it more safe.
The Body
Adenosine receptors aren’t just in your brain. They are all over our body. So consuming coffee habitually over many years can lead to a stiffness in our joints and back (not to mention the inability to relax).
Dr. Hyman focuses on how caffeine affects our blood sugar levels and metabolism. He recommends that the healthiest action we can make is learning to regulate our blood sugar level. Coffee, it turns out, is only two percent caffeine and the rest is composed of highly active biological compounds (whose names are too long and hard to pronounce for this blog). These compounds promote the production of insulin but limit your insulin sensitivity which makes it harder for your cells to react to fluctuating blood sugar levels.
He then goes on to show how coffee prevents our bodies absorption of minerals and electrolytes. Over-caffeinated individuals, therefore, are more susceptible to anxiety, depression, mood swings, and fluctuating energy levels.
But It Makes Us More Productive Right?
Kind of. But really, it’s an unanswerable question at this point. Studies have shown different outcomes but LifeHacker synthesizes the studies to show that coffee primarily helps us perform functions that can be performed fast, but not with the functions that require time and creative, abstract thought. Things like data entry or tasks that are straightforward have been shown to increase in quality and productivity while people performed them highly caffeinated, but sometimes the effects diminished quickly. For instance, morning productivity was good but afternoon productivity in these tests showed no improvements from coffee drinkers.
Should You Quit Caffeine?
Stephen Braun, author of Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine talks about how every brain is like a fingerprint. Coffee is going to affect you differently from others. Knowing how it affects you will generally be the most affective way to know when to quit.
Our greatest misunderstanding about coffee is that it’s a drug. When we quit we fall into withdrawal symptoms like headaches, irritability, lethargy, fatigue, depression, and even vomiting. Over time our body becomes dependent or accostummed to that source of energy (have you ever skipped a meal and just had a cup of coffee instead?).
Coffee makes us feel good now, but at what expense? Are we sacrificing an overall richer experience for the immediacy of coffee’s kick and jolt?
How You Can Quit
As we said earlier, experiment. Enjoy coffee. Have an attitude of indifference but know that it isn’t something you ought to need and might be extremely beneficial to subtract from your life. Wothdrawal symptoms will generally disappear after three to four days. To get through those, here are some tips towards quitting:
- Drink at least 2 quarts of water each day.
- Drink green tea for it’s mild caffeine levels and detoxing properties.
- Make sure you give yourself plenty of time for sleep.
- Take multivitamins. Especially calcium and magnesium (minerals that coffee inhibits your body’s ability to absorb).
- Practice relaxation techniques. Deep breathing exercises, yoga, and meditation can be really helpful towards feeling better quicker and boosting your energy levels.
- Exercise daily to boost energy levels (even just a quick walk around the block).
- Keep a journal and monitor the way your body feels. Remember, it’s about experimentation and finding the right formula that works for your brains.
The best thing you can do for yourself is learn to listen to what your body is telling you. Are you irritable when you don’t drink that daily cup o’ coffee? Do you have mood swings? Or is coffee your saving grace and after spending a few days off of it, you know it’s something that improves your life and there is no reason to quit. Whatever makes you feel the most awake, learn to listen to that part of your life.
Jeremy Atticus Smith works at the McMinn Law Firm in Austin, Texas. He’s quitting caffeine this week and, although he’s somewhat lethargic and unexcited, he’s enjoying a new sense of relaxation at work.
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