6 tips for reducing your caffeine intake

If you’ve ever tried to reduce your caffeine intake, you know it can be really difficult. Caffeine is physically addictive, so quitting it cold turkey can give you withdrawal effects like headaches for several days. You may also feel fatigued or like you can’t wake up, because your body is so used to relying on caffeine for stimulation.

But if you’ve decided (or been advised by a doctor) to reduce or cut out your caffeine habit, here are some simple tips to help make it as painless as possible:

1. Cut down gradually. If you drink 6 cups of coffee a day, cut back to 5 for a few days, then 4, then 3 and so on. Once you’re down to one cup a day, then try one cup every other day, then every three days, and so on until you feel like you can leave it behind. (Or, if you’re just reducing your intake, quit this process at whatever number of cups you’re comfortable drinking.)
2. If you choose to go cold-turkey, do it during a time when your life isn’t very demanding. Expect withdrawal headaches and take aspirin or other mild painkillers to cope. Drink lots and lots of water to flush the withdrawal toxins out of your system faster. To wake up and get to your usual level of energy, try some ginseng or Vitamin B-12 supplements. After you’re done with withdrawal, your normal energy levels should return and you won’t need the supplements anymore. (Withdrawal usually ends within a week, maybe 10 days for some individuals.)
3. Dilute your coffee more and more over the course of a few days with milk, water or decaf.
4. Switch from coffee to black tea, then to green tea, then to decaf herbal. This brings your caffeine intake down in stages.
5. Remember sodas. Sodas, with or without sugar, typically have caffeine, but much less than coffee. You can use them to replace coffee temporarily while you adjust to less caffeine. If you want to cut out all caffeine, switch to caffeine-free sodas – there are plenty to choose from, and I can’t tell any taste difference from the caffeinated versions.
6. Chocolate can be a crutch during withdrawal. If you have terrible cravings for coffee while you’re trying to cut down, have a piece of chocolate instead. It has some caffeine – enough to satisfy the craving without undoing as much of your hard work as a cup of coffee would.

If you love the flavor of coffee, then the thing to do is switch to decaf. Don’t listen to people who say it tastes bad – there are plenty of blends that taste really good. My favorite is Dunkin’ Donuts Decaf. It actually tastes better than a lot of caffeinated blends you can buy.

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Posted in Health and Beauty on January 25, 2010