Plus How to Quit Coffee For Good
I recently interviewed Anthony DiClemente, a high performance coach who studies pretty much everything related to performance and the human body.
During the interview, our conversation turned to coffee, of all things.
We both agreed that cutting out coffee has had a serious impact on our lives…and no, I’m not talking about the “impact” that taking a multivitamin would have.
For me, cutting out coffee made a real, serious change for the better in my life, and there were a number of discoveries I made that led up to my decision to quit:
Caffeine Has A 6 Hour Half Life
Essentially what this means is that it will take 24 hours for all the caffeine from a cup of coffee to completely disappear from your system.
But here’s the interesting part: after 6 hours, 50% of that caffeine is still active in your body.
And after 12 hours, 25% is still active.
So if you’re having two cups of coffee at noon, by the time you try to go to bed (assuming it’s at midnight), it will feel like you literally just drank half a fresh cup of coffee right before your head hits the pillow, which in all likelihood means you’ll have an awful night of sleep.
But impact on sleep is just one of the problems coffee causes…
Caffeine Also Increases Anxiety Levels
Whether you feel like you’re constantly on edge, or would just like to be more bold and fearless around beautiful women, caffeine isn’t going to help you.
Caffeine will make you feel more introverted. It will drive your mind into your head, increase your anxiety, and therefore diminish your confidence.
Specifically, coffee promotes the release of the stress hormones cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. These chemicals increase your body’s heart rate, blood pressure and tension levels – also known as the “fight or flight” response.
This can in turn cause your mind to perceive certain situations with additional fear or caution, when you normally would not have these feelings.
Caffeine Is A “Work Drug”
Coffee also puts you into “productivity mode,” which will also make you more likely to want to stay home and read a book than go out with friends or go to a party where you could meet women.
The effects of caffeine can be so powerful (and addicting) that it really is a drug.
I’ve found it can have wonderful effects on my ability to focus, generate ideas, and just generally get shit done.
But once you’re done with work, it becomes almost impossible to shut the effects off. I mentioned the 24 hour half-life earlier, which means you’re going to need to wait somewhere around 18-24 hours before the effects wear off completely.
That’s why caffeine makes it extremely difficult to transition out of “work mode.”
Over the years, one of the more popular questions I’ve been asked by men is how to get in a more social and outgoing mood after a long day of sitting in front of the computer.
My answer would definitely include avoiding caffeine. I also suggest grabbing a drink with friends and making sure “work” is an off-limits conversation topic.
There are also a few stretches and exercises you can to do get your body out of the hunched-over “computer posture” it’s stuck in for most of the day.
Also, change your clothes, take a shower and listen to music.
Just changing your scenery can wash away the effects of work.
How To Get Started
For the record, I actually haven’t stopped drinking coffee.
I switched to decaf, which can have anywhere from 0.1% to 10% of the normal amount of caffeine that a regular cup of coffee has, and tastes pretty much the same, in my opinion.
Some people say decaf coffee is made with unhealthy chemicals, but there is now decaf coffee made with a new technique called the Swiss Water Process which uses only water to remove the caffeine from the coffee bean.
Swiss Water Process is new and uses water to remove 99.9% of the caffeine from the bean
If you drink coffee for the taste, then this should do the trick.
If you drink coffee for the caffeine, then drinking decaf or mixing it with regular coffee allows you to control your doses.
Finally, I make sure I’m mindful of my schedule. If I know I’m going to go out after work and will want to be able to switch off from “work mode” pretty quickly, then I respect that and only drink decaf that day.
Other days I have no social commitments and I’ll give myself permission to focus on work and allow myself to drink regular caffeinated coffee.
No matter what you choose, I’ve found having more knowledge and control over the situation gives me more control over my life and allows me to drastically improve the quality of it.
I cannot tell you, personally, how much different it feels showing up to a date or a dinner after work without any caffeine in my system. It’s night and day.
If you think it might help, I encourage you to try it out!
Two Proven Ways to Kick Your Caffeine Habit For Good
There’s a great article on “How to Break Your Caffeine Addiction” over at Caffeine Informer. They recommend one of two tried-and-true methods to cut out caffeine entirely:
1) Go Cold-Turkey
If you decide to go cold-turkey, you’ll lose the awful side-effects of caffeine as quickly as possible, and realize just how much of an effect it can have on you.
Depending on how much caffeine you normally drink, you might also have a fairly prolonged (1-3 day) period of withdrawal. This can include debilitating headaches, nausea, “brain fog,” and a whole bunch of other pretty unpleasant side-effects.
Most importantly, if you go cold turkey, you have to maintain your resolve. It’ll be so easy to “just have a cup of coffee” to “take off the edge.” Resist the urge. As good as that momentary rush of hormones might feel, you’ll feel even worse that night and the next day for all of the reasons I explained above.
2) Wean Yourself Off Gradually
The experts at Caffeine Informer recommend gradually decreasing your intake of caffeine by 50 mgs every two days until you cut it out entirely. Here is how much caffeine is in some common beverages:
-Starbucks Coffee (Tall 12 oz.): 260 mg
-Monster Energy Drink (1 can): 86 mg
-Coca-Cola (1 can): 32 mg
-Iced Tea (Grande 16 oz.): 65 mg
If you don’t see your favorite drink on the above list, Caffeine Informer has developed a comprehensive list of almost any caffeinated beverage you can think of.
Want to know how much of your favorite caffeinated drink will kill you? They have that covered too in case you need a little extra motivation.
I’m almost certain that once you kick the coffee habit, you’ll sleep better, you’ll feel better, and your interactions with others (especially ladies) will be a lot more fulfilling.