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Why I stopped drinking coffee
After drinking coffee for a year, I gave it up — with surprising results.
Thu, Aug 09 2012 at 4:06 PM
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Photo: Puuikibeach/Flickr
A couple of months ago, I asked you should we drink coffee? Since then, I've had a book to finish, and six weeks before I needed to send it over to the publisher, both of my girls came down this really bad cough that lasts six weeks. Oh fun. My nights became very, very interrupted.
I decided that under the circumstances, that I should drink coffee to help myself stay awake and finish the project. At the time, it seemed to help. Compared to a serious coffee drinker, my intake was still fairly low, but it was a lot more coffee than I have ever consumed. (I only started drinking coffee in the last year or so.)
So I was honestly grateful for coffee, because it helped me get through the last six weeks. But a few days after I sent in my book, I tried to go out for a jog. My knees literally felt like they had been transplanted from a 100-year-old woman. It was too painful to jog.
I still don’t understand what prompted the sudden change. My knees seem to be a kind of “idiot light.” If I eat too much sugar, they get achy and sore, for example. But I hadn’t had sugar, so what was the deal? I happened to see on Facebook that someone mentioned they loved coffee but every time they drank it, it made their knees get really achy. A quick Google search turned up a couple of forums in which other people shared the same problem.
I had been planning to take a coffee break anyway, and with my knees so sore, I decided to just do it! Day one off of coffee was not very fun. I got the typical headache, but more than that, I felt depressed and extremely fatigued. I almost gave in and drank coffee! But I decided I needed to give it at least three days. Day two was much better, and I took a nap. Day three, I was only a little tired (which I felt while I was on coffee anyway) and it seemed like my knees were starting to improve.
Now it's day five — only day five — and I have noticed a big difference. My knees really don’t hurt at all. But more than that, I’ve really noticed that I feel happier and more even keeled without coffee. In those six weeks of drinking coffee ( several cups a day), I was really starting to feel sad and discouraged about different things. It may be true that for some people, there is a link between coffee and not getting depressed; it's also true that I feel an initial “happy lift” after drinking coffee, but it doesn’t last for me. I feel so much happier without it. I have had insomnia issues since I was a preteen, and I think I sleep better if I don’t drink coffee at all (even in the morning). I even think my energy has overall improved without coffee!
In the end, the only thing I miss is the taste. After I give my coffee break a bit more time to catch on, I am going to test out a water-processed decaf, just because I like the taste. I am curious if it was simply the high caffeine content that bothered my knees or some other aspect of coffee.
All in all, I am five days in and already thankful for a coffee-free life. I am not sure what the issues are with my knees. The coffee might just aggravate a deeper issue, but regardless, coffee doesn’t seem to be worth it for me.
What about you? Do you drink coffee and would you be able to give it up?
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nobody likes a quitter
Save yourself the headaches by cut your coffee in half with decaf. Day one half regular half decaf day two 1/3 regular 2/3rds decaf etc...
After a week or two you can simply stop all together. No headaches whatsoever.
Coffee doesnt agree with me. One year back a friend introduced me to starbucks and somehow I became a caffeine lover. I had horrible withdrawal headaches when I got off coffee because I wanted to cut out caffeine as it was giving me blood sugar fluctuations. And then I got pregnant and cut out coffee for good. I guess now I feel more at ease - no more headaches or sugar cravings. I'm not going back to it.
im not sure if anyone follows but there are mycotoxins in most coffee that will cause all these symptoms, and negative effects...google it, read about it, and lets not blame coffee but the lack of knowlegde that goes with it ;)
I believe any nutrient that's made in nature including caffeine has a beneficial effect on the body. That is only truly if the food is eaten whole and in it's raw form, or for certain foods a natural form of cooking like by fire or steaming. Caffeine though, really I think you should only have so little as it raises mental alertness. There's always balance in nature, a yin and yang ^^
I had to quit drinking coffee because of muscle spasms in my back, side & chest. The symptoms went away after 2 weeks away from coffee.
i used to drink coffee during exams so i will not be sleepy but i think cofee has bad effects in the aftermath :(
I haven't had any coffee or foods with sugar since Christmas. My knees and joints do not ache anymore.....totally amazing! After sitting it was very hard for me to get up because my knees hurt so bad, now I don't have any problems.
Also the issue with knees could be related to dehydration as coffee is a diuretic. Joints need proper hydration to remain lubricated.
It should also be noted that there are more stimulants in coffee than just caffeine, it would be interesting to determine if caffeine is the issue or the other stimulants or if it is the combination of them all
my dad drinks a 12 cup pot of coffee to himself throughout the morning and then drinks more.
If drinking coffee makes you feel bad, then stop. If it doesn't, then drink it. Not seeing an issue here.
I'm a tea drinker through and through and only really drank coffee during midterms and finals; about 2-3 cups a day, no more than 6 for all-nighters, for about a week about a month and a half apart. After noticing a rash develop on my face and hands after a particularly strong cup of coffee, I went to Taylor's of Harrogate Pure Ceylon and Pure Assam teas ; either two of one or one of each brewed dark like coffee. They taste amazing and I found I didn't miss coffee at all.
I guess it all gets back to the question of consuming something versus consuming it in excess. I have a cup of coffee in the morning and sometimes a second cup sometime during the day. I don't get a withdrawal headache if I don't have it. But there was a time when I was drinking 3 double espressos a day. I was dependent on it and didn't like that so I went cold turkey. That was not pleasant. On the other hand, coffee is great for your liver.
It's sounds like you guys with joint pain aren't drinking enough fluids. Coffee is a diuretic and will dehydrate you! So if you're sitting around drinking coffee all day without much else, there's your likely culprit.
Your like so right James~
I want to do an experiment, I will give you a sample of coffee I drink which has herbs in it and neutralizes all the high acid found in regular coffee. Let me know if you are interested. I will give you 4 samples, that should be good for 4 days.
WHAT IS THIS HERBAL COFFEE??
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