Rewind to a year ago—I was drinking four cups of coffee a day just to stay awake. Granted, I was a sophomore in college, and thought I was under a whole lot of stress and coffee was the remedy. All my friends knew I was the one who really liked coffee -- not a grande caramel macchiato, but black drip coffee and straight espresso shots. I hated getting up in the morning, and would feel shaky and occasionally even sweaty if I didn't have a ridiculous amount of caffeine in my system.
Jump forward six months. I scored my dream gig making coffee at Starbucks. Unlimited amounts of whatever I wanted to make myself? Sign me up! I was so excited to try everything on the menu and found myself sucking down two venti-sized Starbucks Doubleshot beverages at work, which is ten espresso shots when you do the math. I could easily say I had a strong caffeine addiction, and one day it just stopped.
Maybe I got tired of the product I was selling everyday, but I suddenly found myself not wanting coffee at all; in fact, it was the last thing I wanted. I told people I knew I stopped drinking coffee, and they were shocked -- I got a lot of, "How are you coping?!" and, "You stopped drinking coffee?" It made me think about reasons I felt so much better after stopping, and learned a lot about what it does to your body and healthier alternatives to your daily cup of joe.
According to an article by Hungry for Change, the high amount of caffeine increases a hormone that makes you more stressed out. I used to literally stress about drinking my next cup of coffee, and my stress level has decreased in general since I stopped. Stress can increase insulin, which can make you feel sick and tired, especially day after day.
Coffee is also a diuretic, making you have to use the bathroom more frequently. This can be a good thing depending on your physical situation, but in most cases, if you're drinking too much coffee and using the bathroom too often, you're losing minerals like calcium and magnesium in unhealthy amounts.
Another reason why I feel so much better is because coffee is so acidic and I'm not consuming gallons a week -- I really think when I was at the peak of my coffee addiction, it was taking a toll on my stomach, especially when I also ate other high acidity foods like oranges or tomatoes on the same day.
I still occasionally get a short and small withdrawal headache, like any coffee addict would, but over all its been very worth it not to indulge in the java that is so accessible to me. Instead, I've been drinking kombucha, a fermented and pro-biotic tea that does wonders for your digestive system. It doesn't meet the caffeine level that coffee does, but I feel worlds better after eight ounces of kombucha versus eight ounces of coffee. If you're still looking to perk up a little in the morning, my new favorite is yerba mate. It's another tea with countless health benefits, and such a quick fix for a headache from a lack of caffeine.
