I Quit Coffee and Have More Energy

I have a love-hate relationship with coffee. As in, I mostly love it 90% of the time, and the other 10% of the time, it leaves me anxious, jittery, and craving sugar each time I have a cup.

Unfortunately, my brain has linked coffee with sugary substances, probably because I do not drink black coffee. I like a little sugar, milk, and two cups before noon.

Even though I do not prefer black coffee, if it is good coffee, I will drink it black, and in Georgia, they had good, robust coffee.

They also had little individualized packets, and while traveling, these were perfect. Plus, they were like 10 cents each. So, each time I was at the market, I would pick up a couple for breakfast.

However, I was not considering how strong even the cappuccinos were, and by 3 p.m., I was an anxious ball of energy, and my hands would not stop shaking.

I, of course, could not figure out why I was anxious, and one day, I was on my 3rd cup of coffee of the day, and I knew I had a problem.

I had a significant coffee/sugar issue, and it had to stop.

So, I stopped coffee and sugar. I quit sugar for a month and have since added it back into my diet, but significantly less than before; I have plans to remove it again once I am resettled. That is a story for another day.

I have not had another cup of coffee, black tea, or green tea; it all has too much caffeine for me, and I, of course, self-diagnosed myself with adrenal fatigue.

Which I am pretty sure is an accurate diagnosis.

But first, I must talk about my coffee habit; about a year ago, I read an article and listened to a few podcasts on how to drink coffee correctly without killing your adrenals.

Wait 90 minutes before having your first cup, and have water first.

I did this for over a year; I have no idea if it worked or not, as either way, too much caffeine will kill your adrenals. As well as, if you have it within so many hours of bed, it will affect your sleep.

So, after feeling completely drained and worn out, I quit coffee; I did drink caffeinated tea to wean myself off, and now it has been over two months, with the only caffeine I have had is chocolate and matcha, which is nowhere close to my two cups of coffee a day.

I wonder if it was the extra strong coffee I had in Georgia; when I lived in Colombia, I had two cups a day and did not feel like a crazy person crawling out of my skin.

My sister also loves coffee; she has one cup in the morning, and that is all, and whenever I come to visit her, I always bring her a bag of local coffee.

I got her a bag of coffee from Georgia Jacobs. I told her I thought it was strong, but she likes strong coffee.

She drank it for a few days and said it was even too strong for her.

So I concluded it is not that I must give up coffee forever, but maybe taking breaks from coffee will help support a healthy adrenal system.

Now that it has been two months, I no longer miss it.

I have hot lemon water to drink in the morning, as the most significant thing I missed in the beginning, was waking up to a hot drink, which I have solved with herbal teas and hot lemon water.

I also have a mini supplement routine that I am on to give my adrenals a few things they might need while I was torturing them all summer.

I do feel better, I do not wake up tired, I do not get jittery, and I don’t miss the feeling that I am reliant on something.

The first month was the worst, and every time I quit coffee, which is at least one month every year, but this is the longest I have gone without restarting, and I think the benefits only get better as my internal organs begin to heal from a shock of caffeine.

I think quitting coffee this time, plus adding supplements to my diet, has helped me, as any time you have a craving, it usually means that you are deficient in a specific nutrient inside your body.

Your body will always talk to you and tell you what you need; you must listen to heal instead of searching for a bandaid that most health care provides.

Instead, I choose to use the knowledge I have learned as a holistic health coach and nurse to figure out how to heal from the inside out.

So now that it has been two months and my body is finally feeling back to normal, I have no plans to return to coffee.

Instead, I prefer to have herbal tea, as it contains healing properties. Some may argue that so does coffee, but instead of using your cup of joe to stimulate your morning bathroom routine, look into why you need stimulation to go to the bathroom.

We should not be reliant upon anything for normal body functions, and when we give our body the right ingredients, it will function as intended, flawless.

Our bodies are fascinating. Especially when given a chance by optimizing it with proper nutrients.

However, none of us are perfect, as I still need to quit sugar, but hopefully, when I am out of the country that likes to poison our food, I will have better luck.

Who knows, maybe I will be an ex-coffee drinker after all.

Does that mean I was a coffeeholic?

Since if you quit substances that can cause dependency, you are automatically labeled?

Yes, coffee causes dependency.

If you don’t believe me, try stopping for three days and tell me how your head feels.

Maybe one day, I will rejoin the coffee drinkers of the world; for now, I will enjoy my herbal teas.

XOXO

S