If you are a regular caffeine drinker, the thought of suddenly quitting your regular caffeine kick may sound daunting. And while caffeine is not technically addictive, you can develop a physical dependence and suddenly going cold turkey can be very unpleasant. If you’re concerned about some of the effects caffeine has on your health or your sleeping habits, you might want to reduce your caffeine intake. Here are a few ways how.
Cutting caffeine out abruptly
Just thinking about it might trigger memories of that one time you ran out of coffee, and your usual coffee shop was closed, and you were running late for work (Mondays, am I right?) so you just had to skip your regular morning coffee. It is likely you had a headache as a result.
Caffeine induced headaches are caused by suddenly stopping caffeine consumption, and they typically begin behind your eyes and then moves to the front of the forehead. In some cases, this headache can be drawn out longer, be accompanied by fatigue, muscle pains, and nausea, or even trigger migraines.
Not so fun.
If you do decide to quit caffeine just like that, you may choose to mitigate these headaches by taking painkillers (ibuprofen or aspirin work best). It might take a week to get rid of the headaches, but eventually your body will get used to not having caffeine and you’ll have gotten rid of your dependence!
Gradually cut down on caffeine
Less painful would be gradually reducing your coffee intake. You only need a week to make it work! In the first two days, you can start drinking a mix of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee (¾ caffeinated, ¼ decaf). Follow that with two days of half-caf, and then two days of a ¼ regular, ¾ decaf blend. On day 7, you’ve made it: you can drink decaf without inducing a headache!
Be mindful that some of the other things you consume might contain caffeine, and that no decaf is truly 100% decaf. But cutting down even partially on your caffeine intake will make you feel more awake, and more alive!
Caffeine free is worry free!
There are several reasons to cut down on caffeine, or quit completely. Perhaps you have problems sleeping, or are worried about how caffeine is affecting your health. Cutting down on caffeine can be a healthy lifestyle choice and with the Decaf Pouch, it can be done easily! By increasing the time you use seep the pouch in your beverage, you can extract more caffeine from your favorite drink!
Written by Valerie Bentivegna
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