Caffeine can kill your productivity!

[Mattie]

I notice myself when ever I drink pop with caffeine, or tea with caffeine, my nervous system is more agitated, or irritated, but all my life I've known caffeine will keep me up forever in a day. It's a stimulant. For a long time I never drank caffeine until I got in the Netherlands. I think when I get back to my culture I'll go back to water and herbal teas without caffeine. I've never been much of coffee drinker myself. Caffeine always gets me wired up and wide awake. I'll drink tea all day long. lol

 

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[andyhaus44]

Thanks to this post, I've decided to quit coffee and today has been my first day. So far so good

 

[Danny Sullivan]

But you don't have to stop drinking coffee forever just cycle your intake. Drink coffee for a week then take a week off.

I tried this too. What happened to me was, i was sitting there thinking "wow, a nice cup of nice hot coffee would be really really nice now" on litteraly every nice occasion. But maybe i'm just to weak for this.
Same for everything else i stopped. I tried the "slow" way... it never worked for me. But stopping it from one moment to the other works well (most of them time).

 

[The Abundant Man]

I tried this too. What happened to me was, i was sitting there thinking "wow, a nice cup of nice hot coffee would be really really nice now" on litteraly every nice occasion. But maybe i'm just to weak for this.
Same for everything else i stopped. I tried the "slow" way... it never worked for me. But stopping it from one moment to the other works well (most of them time).

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBjyVc2_GR0

 

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[AFMKelvin]

I tried this too. What happened to me was, i was sitting there thinking "wow, a nice cup of nice hot coffee would be really really nice now" on litteraly every nice occasion. But maybe i'm just to weak for this.
Same for everything else i stopped. I tried the "slow" way... it never worked for me. But stopping it from one moment to the other works well (most of them time).

You don't have to do a whole week you can do three days no coffee three days with coffee. That's what I do I only drink coffee the last two days of my work week. On my days off I don't drink coffee.

Just take it slow take a few mg of caffeine less everyday until you reset at zero.

I'll give you a plan for a whole week.

Monday/Tuesday drink your regular intake of coffee let's say a cup

Wednesday/Thursday/Friday cut it in half so half a cup

Saturday/Sunday Days off No coffee just sleep as much as you want so you can feel rested drink some green tea if you have to it has some caffeine in it

Repeat again for next week but start off Monday with half a cup until you can go a whole week without having to drink coffee than you can start cycling with only a cup of coffee

 

[jpn]

Last week I went from 5 - 8 cups a day to 0 caffeine.

What happened? I read a book. Why we sleep. It explains what sleep does for your body and brain. And how your lifestyle influences sleep and increases or reduces it's benefits.

After the first 2-3 chapters I had learned enough to not want to drink caffeine again. The rest of the book drives it home and explains other factors that can improve your life.

After cutting out caffeine and getting about 4 nights of good quality sleep I feel better than ever.

I've never felt more energised.

Cutting out caffeine has had a massive positive impact on my energy levels and clarity from. I'm less foggy during the day, and experience shallower dips in cognitive ability during the course of the day.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I read a book. Why we sleep.

Ohh, thanks for the recommendation, will check it out!

For those looking for a coffee replacement, I found Teeccino to be adequate as a replacement.

https://www.vitacost.com/teeccino-o...ee-alternative-caffeine-free?q=teccino&ta=tec

 

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[andyhaus44]

A variety of things that I really don't want to go into, lets just say I've been consuming way too much caffeine, the equivalent to probably a dozen cups of coffee. I know it has effected me negatively on the cognitive front, including sleep.

The last two days I've had a raging withdrawal migraine.

Same here on the migraine, MJ. Today is day 2 but I'm actually feeling a lot better today.. Hope you're feeling better today as well

 

[MTEE1985]

After the first 2-3 chapters I had learned enough to not want to drink caffeine again.

I’m gonna cut back just from listening to the sample on Audible...more traffic fatalities due to fatigue than drugs and alcohol COMBINED.

Peak Performance is another book I recently read that goes into detail about the importance of rest and sleep.

Off-Topic a little bit after a 3 hour trip to the dentist it’s time to kiss refined sugars goodbye once and for all as well.

 

[andyhaus44]

Last week I went from 5 - 8 cups a day to 0 caffeine.

What happened? I read a book. Why we sleep. It explains what sleep does for your body and brain. And how your lifestyle influences sleep and increases or reduces it's benefits.

After the first 2-3 chapters I had learned enough to not want to drink caffeine again. The rest of the book drives it home and explains other factors that can improve your life.

After cutting out caffeine and getting about 4 nights of good quality sleep I feel better than ever.

I've never felt more energised.

Cutting out caffeine has had a massive positive impact on my energy levels and clarity from. I'm less foggy during the day, and experience shallower dips in cognitive ability during the course of the day.

Thank you for sharing the book, I appreciate it. If you have an Apple Watch, the 'AutoSleep Tracker for Watch' does an outstanding job of tracking your sleep. It measures the length of your sleep, your amount of deep sleep, the amount of quality sleep, as well as heart rate.

Just listened to part of Dr. Walker's Google Talk during my lunch break and he mentioned that heart attacks are + 25% during the spring solstice and -21% during the fall solstice. Just an hour difference of sleep makes a huge difference!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Same here on the migraine, MJ. Today is day 2 but I'm actually feeling a lot better today.. Hope you're feeling better today as well

Feel much better, and it's only been 3 days. Sleep has improved slightly as well.

Added in some other detoxing agents as well.

 

[lowtek]

You can pry the bitter little beans from my cold dead hands

 

[arfadugus]

Read Caffeine Blues if you need more info.

It can take 6 months to start feeling normal after quitting caffeine.

Been feeling with this shit for 7 years and now I've finally nailed it down. This is how I quit caffeine for good near painlessly.

1. After this tip you will never drink coffee again.
Buy a $25 milligram scale from Amazon. And 100 capsules of 200mg of pure caffeine powder.

This way you can start tapering slowly. Or at any rate that you want to. Depending on how much sleep you get, how you felt the previous day, stress factors, etc.

You also will dis-associate the feeling you get from caffeine from drinking a beverage. Think about it. You are mixing a drug with one of our primal urges. To eat and drink. No wonder it's so engrained into your brain. Start taking it like the drug that it is.

P.S. you will also save a ton of money doing it this way.

2. This tip will optimize your current caffeine intake to feel the best possible while tapering.
Take your caffeine at the same time a day. The same amount of times per day.

Your body has a daily rythm. Mostly everyone knows about circadian rythm. But what they don't know is that your body releases a Cascade of hormones that are adapted to your daily habits and routines. Suddenly changing the timing of a caffeine dose will trigger withdrawal symptoms like depression, lethargy, headaches, and more.

As a caveat, taper your latest dose first if possible. I recommend tapering no more than 5-10 mg of each dose that you have cheduled per day. 5mg on days that you aren't feeling it. And 10mg when you are feeling motivated. This will start to help you sleep better. Even a morning dose will effect your next night of sleep. So try to get you caffeine timing away from your sleep as soon as possible. Which brings us to tip #3.

3. This tip will help your body recover from years of damage that caffeine has done to your body. So that you can start to feel human again . Sleep, sleep, and more sleep.

I suggest you sleep whenever, however, and as often as possible. Take naps, sleep in, go to bed early. You have been taking caffeine for mainly one purpose and one purpose only. To ignore your body's natural signal that tells you that it needs to heal. And to repair the damage you are done. You are going to need to regain that time you lost snoozing. Don't worry though. Your body will thank you. And once you are caffeine free. You won't have to spend all of your time with your eyes shut. And you will be rejuvenated every morning in when you wake up.

Make it as easy as possible for your body to get a good night's rest. Don't consume, alcohol, stimulants, nicotine, over the counter medicine, most supplements, or anything else that effects your body's natural ability to run itself. Food and water. That's all you need.

Buy a Purple mattress if you can. (They offer financing) Upgrade your pillows, make your room as dark and noise free as possible at night. You want to be stone cold dead in the water asleep.

4. This tip will give you many small things to do that add up for big results. I call it the shotgun approach.

Meditate. Exercise. Drink only water, eat plenty of fruits and veggies. Donate money. Help someone in need. Make a list of goals. Get outdoors. Put your cellphone Down and disconnect. Add some pink Himalayan salt to your water to get electrolytes. Eliminate processed foods. Make sure you are getting enough fiber.

Quit porn and masturbation. Take cold showers. Listen to Jocko Podcast. Read books and learn shit. Learn to make money outside of having a job. Get your blood work done. You can order any blood test at discount labs. You can compare before and after caffeine. (You'll be surprised)

Read the book "caffeine Blues". There is a lot of bullshit in that book but the studies and overall premise is pretty sound. Read self help books. Read about nutrition. Lose some weight. Put on some muscle. Hang out with people. Connect deeper with others. Cuddle. Take care of a place to or a pet.

Sorry if I used bad grammar and what not. I kinda rushed through this. If you or anyone has any questions then private message me. I'd be happy to give references, studies, advice, resources, etc.

P.P.S. This habit is a bitch. I'm happy to support any way I can.

 

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[Zest]

I like nitro cold-brew coffee with zero added bullshit. I used to get headaches when I'd stop drinking coffee. Ever since I started drinking pure coffee with no other additives, I've been fine.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

Genuine Question: Why do you guys want to quit caffeine? Because you've abused it?

I'm with @kelvinfernandezm. If you "cycle" the caffeine, then its benefits far outweigh the costs.

I do 3 weeks on. 1 week off. I start at 100mg per day and go up to 200mg's per day. Then when I stop feeling the effects or just want to quit, I quit for a week or a minimum of 5 days to reset my tolerance.

Why? Because caffeine gives me a lot of benefits including:

• More calories burned
• Huge workout boost (my endurance doubles - I go from doing 5 muay thai rounds to 10; similar for lifting weights)
• Productivity: When I take it, I need to do something, and get in the zone easier
• It helps me sleep if I time it 12 hours before bedtime

I don't think caffeine is the problem. Maybe I'm wrong. Building tolerance seems to be the problem.

 

[Danny Sullivan]

• More calories burned

• Huge workout boost (my endurance doubles - I go from doing 5 muay thai rounds to 10; similar for lifting weights)

• Productivity: When I take it, I need to do something, and get in the zone easier

• It helps me sleep if I time it 12 hours before bedtime

I have experienced the exact opposite:

• Quitting coffee had no effect on how many calories i burn, but my weight was always fluctuacting between 76 and 79kg (167-174 lbs), now that i quit, it's always between 79-80kg (174-176lbs).
  I can't tell if it has something to do with my digestion (drank coffee before training and after meals).
  
  
• I drank coffee 1 hour prior to my workouts and it always seemed like an eternity before i got into the "groove" of working out. Now i just warm up (15min) and am ready to start off with heavier weights than before. It feels less taxing on my body.
  
  
• I can't say this for sure, because the time i was drinking coffee on mass was also the time i hadn't had any fixed working shedules. Could be 8am-5pm but could also be 8am-1pm and 6pm-2am on one day. I basically drank coffee to "stay awake" and get some stuff done.
  With a now fixed routine i experienced no difference in productivity.
  
  
• Always had massive problems getting into sleep when i drank coffee beyond 6pm. Since i stopped, i switch lights off between 10-10.30pm and am usually gone within 5-10minutes.

I think this depends a lot on personal circumstances and habits (how often, at what times).

 

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[AgainstAllOdds]

I have experienced the exact opposite:

• Quitting coffee had no effect on how many calories i burn, but my weight was always fluctuacting between 76 and 79kg (167-174 lbs), now that i quit, it's always between 79-80kg (174-176lbs).
  I can't tell if it has something to do with my digestion (drank coffee before training and after meals).
  
  
• I drank coffee 1 hour prior to my workouts and it always seemed like an eternity before i got into the "groove" of working out. Now i just warm up (15min) and am ready to start off with heavier weights than before. It feels less taxing on my body.
  
  
• I can't say this for sure, because the time i was drinking coffee on mass was also the time i hadn't had any fixed working shedules. Could be 8am-5pm but could also be 8am-1pm and 6pm-2am on one day. I basically drank coffee to "stay awake" and get some stuff done.
  With a now fixed routine i experienced no difference in productivity.
  
  
• Always had massive problems getting into sleep when i drank coffee beyond 6pm. Since i stopped, i switch lights off between 10-10.30pm and am usually gone within 5-10minutes.

I think this depends a lot on personal circumstances and habits (how often, at what times).

Yeah, I think it depends on each person.

Personally, the way I look at it: Caffeine is linked to longevity (living longer). If it works for you, then keep taking it responsibly, otherwise do what works for you.

 

[FreakyThomas]

Genuine Question: Why do you guys want to quit caffeine? Because you've abused it?

I'm with @kelvinfernandezm. If you "cycle" the caffeine, then its benefits far outweigh the costs.

I do 3 weeks on. 1 week off. I start at 100mg per day and go up to 200mg's per day. Then when I stop feeling the effects or just want to quit, I quit for a week or a minimum of 5 days to reset my tolerance.

Why? Because caffeine gives me a lot of benefits including:

• More calories burned
• Huge workout boost (my endurance doubles - I go from doing 5 muay thai rounds to 10; similar for lifting weights)
• Productivity: When I take it, I need to do something, and get in the zone easier
• It helps me sleep if I time it 12 hours before bedtime

I don't think caffeine is the problem. Maybe I'm wrong. Building tolerance seems to be the problem.

I agree. There's a ton of health benefits also. It reduces the risk for a lot of diseases.

However, one should be careful for quantity. Cleary 10 cups a day is way too much. Also you should be careful to drink your last cup before 2 PM if you don't want it to interfere with your sleep, although this time is subject to change if you drink too much of it (takes time to eliminate).
It's a very addictive drug and that for some people it's probably easier to stop it totally thank drinking it this way. I think when you start to feel not so good on the days you don't drink it, your consumption is wrong.

Just a clarification for people like me that loves coffee . You can also drink it without too much negative consequences and positive ones.

 

[FreakyThomas]

I have experienced the exact opposite:

• Quitting coffee had no effect on how many calories i burn, but my weight was always fluctuacting between 76 and 79kg (167-174 lbs), now that i quit, it's always between 79-80kg (174-176lbs).
  I can't tell if it has something to do with my digestion (drank coffee before training and after meals).
  
  
• I drank coffee 1 hour prior to my workouts and it always seemed like an eternity before i got into the "groove" of working out. Now i just warm up (15min) and am ready to start off with heavier weights than before. It feels less taxing on my body.
  
  
• I can't say this for sure, because the time i was drinking coffee on mass was also the time i hadn't had any fixed working shedules. Could be 8am-5pm but could also be 8am-1pm and 6pm-2am on one day. I basically drank coffee to "stay awake" and get some stuff done.
  With a now fixed routine i experienced no difference in productivity.
  
  
• Always had massive problems getting into sleep when i drank coffee beyond 6pm. Since i stopped, i switch lights off between 10-10.30pm and am usually gone within 5-10minutes.

I think this depends a lot on personal circumstances and habits (how often, at what times).

The effects on sport performance have been demonstrated by serious studies but, for this to work, you need your cafeine level to RAISE before it. If you drink caffeine everyday and all day long it won't have any effect.

I think using it to "stay awake" is really a bad habit and you're totally right to stop it, especially if you would drink some beyond 2PM.

It's interesting to note that may be the way you felt is also linked, at least in some part, to your changing work schedules. This thing should be forbidden, it's really messing a lot with body clocks, quality of sleep, alertness etc.

 

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[stmorand]

Genuine Question: Why do you guys want to quit caffeine? Because you've abused it?

I'm with @kelvinfernandezm. If you "cycle" the caffeine, then its benefits far outweigh the costs.

I do 3 weeks on. 1 week off. I start at 100mg per day and go up to 200mg's per day. Then when I stop feeling the effects or just want to quit, I quit for a week or a minimum of 5 days to reset my tolerance.

Why? Because caffeine gives me a lot of benefits including:

• More calories burned
• Huge workout boost (my endurance doubles - I go from doing 5 muay thai rounds to 10; similar for lifting weights)
• Productivity: When I take it, I need to do something, and get in the zone easier
• It helps me sleep if I time it 12 hours before bedtime

I don't think caffeine is the problem. Maybe I'm wrong. Building tolerance seems to be the problem.

I quit caffeine for several reasons. Indeed, I definitely abused it (I was drinking at least 7 cups of coffee a day). But the main reason is that I noticed the more I was drinking coffee, the more I needed coffee to find energy. I just ended up being tired all the time.

When I stopped drinking coffee, I felt like a drug addict who stopped (though I can not really relate). During the 10 first days, I had every symptoms we can imagine and nothing could make the process easier and less painful. My body didn't really understand what was going on and tried to find caffeine when water should be enough. I never drank that much water before and my body was simply rejecting it.

Though this period of 10 days was really hard, I started to feel better soon and little by little getting more energy. Quickly enough, I gained the same energy as I could have after a shot of caffeine without the need of it.

For people more reasonable than I was before, scientists also talk about the weekend migraine, this migraine that comes only in the weekends. They explain it as a migraine that shows up to people who are only taking the coffee break at the office, with their colleagues. When the weekend arrives, they obviously have no more coffee breaks (or not at the same timing) and the body requests its daily dose ... If such a simple habit, with no excess, has such consequences, this is a sign of addiction.

Then, I am not sure caffeine helps in burning calories. Or let's say that I am sure it slows down digestion. Digestion is a process of about 3 hours. One issue with coffee is that if you take coffee between your meals, you may eat dinner without having finished the digestion of your lunch. When I stopped coffee, I lost 8kg without doing any diet at all.

Once again, I believe caffeine is an addiction, just like any others, including the addiction to alcohol, cigarets, sugar, salt, and so on... We are all addicted to something more or less harmful but like most addictions, we see the consequences often when it is too late for our body to fully recover.

The best is probably to be balanced, by alternating like you do for example. But I am only talking about my own experience and I am not health professional at all!

 

[MTF]

Did any of you quit drinking tea and noticed any positive effects? Tea generally doesn't have as much caffeine as coffee, but it still does contain it. My question is: are there any benefits of quitting tea or is the caffeine amount so low that it doesn't make a difference?

 

[FreakyThomas]

Did any of you quit drinking tea and noticed any positive effects? Tea generally doesn't have as much caffeine as coffee, but it still does contain it. My question is: are there any benefits of quitting tea or is the caffeine amount so low that it doesn't make a difference?

The cafeine amount is lower but usually one drinks more tea than coffee. Also you need to know that caffeine in tea is linked to other molecules hence is released more slowly but for a longer time. So I think there's even more effect on sleep if you tend to drink tea late in the day.
However it is very easy to eliminate cafeine from tea : just infuse your tea in hot water for 1min and throw this water. If you infuse your tea again by renewing the hot water, it will have slightly less taste, but will be cafeine free.

 

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[MTF]

So I think there's even more effect on sleep if you tend to drink tea late in the day.

Yeah I pretty much only drink tea in the morning, around 6 AM and if I drink it again later during the day, it's almost never later than 2 PM so there shouldn't be an issue with that.

However it is very easy to eliminate cafeine from tea : just infuse your tea in hot water for 1min and throw this water. If you infuse your tea again by renewing the hot water, it will have slightly less taste, but will be cafeine free.

I love the strong, earthy taste of pu-erh so this probably wouldn't work for me as it would weaken the flavor too much.

 

[FreakyThomas]

I love the strong, earthy taste of pu-erh so this probably wouldn't work for me as it would weaken the flavor too much.

You should try once, I do this with lapsang souchong and it doesn't really hurt the taste.

Yeah I pretty much only drink tea in the morning, around 6 AM and if I drink it again later during the day, it's almost never later than 2 PM so there shouldn't be an issue with that.

Then I don't think you'll really notice a difference if you stop. You consumption seems really healthy.

 

[Olimac21]

Did any of you quit drinking tea and noticed any positive effects? Tea generally doesn't have as much caffeine as coffee, but it still does contain it. My question is: are there any benefits of quitting tea or is the caffeine amount so low that it doesn't make a difference?

What about tea without caffeine? I normally only drink green tea without caffeine ( for anti allergic purposes).

Regarding coffee, I only drink at work once it is already 10 am a shot of expresso. Like someone said, I think in this particular case the benefits outweights the cons.

 

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[Veloce Grey]

I'm amazed at some of the tolerances people have built up to such large doses. I can handle about one can of pepsi a day at the most-a full strength cup of coffee would likely send me bouncing off the walls manically.

The one exception I make is taking an energy drink if I have a decent drive through the countryside by myself and need to stay alert for a few hours.

 

[Olimac21]

Forgot to mention, if you want a natural energy boost try eating apples or bananas they work really well for me.

 

[Rawseed]

Great thread.

I honestly drink a venti ice coffee with heavy cream from Starbucks every morning for breakfast. Sometimes, I'll put a tablespoon of MCT coconut oil in it. It's my equivalent to buttered coffee.

But, I'd like to quit. Iced coffee has more caffeine than hot coffee. With the amount of caffeine in a venti ice coffee and a 12 hour half-life, I'm sure it's affectingly sleep.

My plan is to taper off slowly. Daily grande. Then daily tall. Then stop.

I might also try @arfadugus caffeine powder protocol.

I'm also considering trying this product that Tim Ferriss promotes. It's a low caffeine chaga mushroom coffee that I've never tried.

Four Sigmatic | Tim Ferriss

I'm also considering trying Onnit's Alpha Brain. I haven't tried it either.

Alpha BRAIN®

 

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[minivanman]

Wow, this was a long thread. I need a Dr. Pepper after reading all that....

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Why do you guys want to quit caffeine? Because you've abused it?

For me, yes. Between the coffee and the workout drinks, I was doing about 300mg, maybe up to 500mg a day.

It got to the point where I couldn't sleep.

I've been off of it now for 2 weeks (cold turkey) and had a few days of withdrawals but I can report without a shadow of a doubt, I've been sleeping much better.