I recently stopped consuming caffeine on a daily basis. For at least a dozen years, I’d had a cup of fully caffeinated coffee first thing pretty much every morning. And over the last few years, I also found myself getting a lot of pleasure out of a 3pm espresso shot. I quit because I hoped to improve my sleep. I understand from browsing the literature that caffeine actually has a reasonably long half- and quarter-life, and a morning cup really does negatively impact your sleep 14 hours later. I also understand that caffeine does not “give” you energy; it just temporarily causes your body to consume energy stores at a higher rate. This seems to have worked; I am certainly more refreshed in the morning than I used to be, and I am as active as ever. Only negative thinking and parties keep me up late now.
Having tried to quit caffeine before, I knew that I would have to titrate down gradually to avoid painful headaches. I therefore reduced my consumption gradually, over the course of two weeks, and didn’t experience much pain. I understood, of course, that there is a low-level addictive component to caffeine, the sort of thing that gives you transitory headaches if you don’t get your fix. What I didn’t understand, however, is the degree to which my addiction to caffeine (and that’s the right word here) had seeped into my higher-level consciousness. I found my mind coming up with elaborate justifications for why I needed caffeine. During the first few weeks, my mind was telling me that perhaps I’m just not as smart, handsome, clever, or strong without it. I recognize this as classic addict talk.
I have kept up my coffee ritual. As I have for many years, I start every morning by grinding 10g of fresh roasted beans, heating water to 205°, and using these to prepare about 12 oz of hot coffee. However, this coffee has no more than a tiny trace of caffeine thanks to the solvent-free “Swiss Water” diffusion process. My roaster provides a decent sample of different coffees prepared with this process (with no real markup over the caffeinated variety), including a nice fair trade Sumatran. I am also allowing myself to have one caffeinated cup (at least until I run out of caffeinated beans) a week on Friday morning just before I go the gym to lift weights.
I think I have to recommend going through this detox, if you’re in a state of mind where you can exert a bit of will power.