Kicking the Coffee Habit

[dotnetcowboy]

It sounds a bit melodramatic to say this, but I believe I have a coffee problem (I hesitate to use the word addiction). I know that most of the coffee I consume in a day isn't from need; it is purely out of habit and some sort of psychological itch that gets scratch when I drink coffee. 

Has anyone else struggled with this? How did you cope and then kick the habit? Is there room for a cup of coffee every day in my life or do I need to cut it out completely? Does anyone out there want to be the person that keeps me honest every day?

Erin

[steff]

How much do you drink?  Are you drinking coffee, or hot coffee flavored milkshakes?  (edited to include the milkshake question)  If you are drinking it full of cream and sugar, you may be after the sugar buzz.

[PNewmanTx]

I love coffee myself, as does my wife. I drink mine black, without any other additives. During the week, since I work in a lab, it's not convenient (or allowed) to have coffee nearby. We do have a coffee pot in the break room, but it has usually been sitting there for a while. So, the only coffee I have during an average work day is what I drink during my 45 minute commute. Sometimes I'll have an additional cup during our weekly lab meeting, but not often.

On the weekends, one of our morning "rituals" is to brew a pot of gourmet coffee, such as Tanzanian Peaberry, Jamaican Blue Mountain, etc. We'll put this in a carafe to keep it hot and enjoy 2 - 3 cups each while reading the paper. 

While this doesn't specifically answer your question, maybe it will give a different perspective.

[dotnetcowboy]

I usually drink between 32 and 64 oz of coffee with cream every day. Fancy coffee-flavoured drinks are an occasional treat but not part of my everyday routine. 

It isn't even the amount that REALLY bugs me but the nagging feeling that it has some sort of control over me. That I can't do some very basic daily activities without having coffee with me. That's what really bothers me. The same way that feeling bothered me when I used to smoke (8 years smoke free!).

[dotnetcowboy]

Thanks @PNewmanTx ! I appreciate the insight.

[peterr]

I gave up coffee and replaced it with dandellion coffee.  Tastes just like coffee and has a sweet taste, but no caffine, lactose or any other chemicals.

[steff]

I would say, if it bugs you then it's a problem.    Coffee has side effects, both good and bad; and like everything else, it needs to be balanced.  Try a cup or two in the morning and a "treat" coffee once or twice a week and see how it feels.  Many people call a habit (as in reaching first for the coffee pot) an addiction, but they aren't the same. 

[Mary]

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@dotnetcowboy wrote:

I usually drink between 32 and 64 oz of coffee with cream every day. Fancy coffee-flavoured drinks are an occasional treat but not part of my everyday routine. 

It isn't even the amount that REALLY bugs me but the nagging feeling that it has some sort of control over me. That I can't do some very basic daily activities without having coffee with me. That's what really bothers me. The same way that feeling bothered me when I used to smoke (8 years smoke free!).

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Congrats on the smoking quit!  I felt the same way, and quit it 11 years ago.  

I think coffee is a pretty innocuous habit but if you feel it's controlling you, maybe try to take some interventions.  The only dangerous/controlling/addictive thing is the caffeine, so why not switch to decaf or half-caff for half or all your coffee, if you don't want to quit entirely?  I've switched to decaf drinks before and after the initial headaches, don't notice much difference.  

I've had a Diet Pepsi habit my whole adult life and at age 48, I've just in the last year started also having 1-3 cups of coffee a day.  I kind of like the new habit because coffee is rich in antioxidants, is a fairly low-cal sweet treat, is light to carry home from the store and has benefits for regularity.  

[badminton]

What is dandelion coffee?

[whome]

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@peterr wrote:

I gave up coffee and replaced it with dandellion coffee.  Tastes just like coffee and has a sweet taste, but no caffine, lactose or any other chemicals.

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@peterr - I 

[whome]

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@peterr wrote:

I gave up coffee and replaced it with dandellion coffee.  Tastes just like coffee and has a sweet taste, but no caffine, lactose or any other chemicals.

@ Peterr - I am pretty sure that dandelion coffee contains that well known, highly dangerous chemical 

dihydrogen monoxide - see this link for a report on the dangers posed http://www.snopes.com/science/dhmo.asp - 

[peterr]

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@whome wrote:

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@peterr wrote:

I gave up coffee and replaced it with dandellion coffee.  Tastes just like coffee and has a sweet taste, but no caffine, lactose or any other chemicals.

@ Peterr - I am pretty sure that dandelion coffee contains that well known, highly dangerous chemical 

dihydrogen monoxide - see this link for a report on the dangers posed http://www.snopes.com/science/dhmo.asp - 

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@whome - dihydrogen monoxide was one big hoax: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax

[whome]

@peterr That is what the whole snopes link I sent is all about - but dihydrogen monoxide is not exactly a hoax - two hydogen and one oxygen makes H2O - it is a chemical - 

[MDadourian]

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@dotnetcowboy wrote:

It sounds a bit melodramatic to say this, but I believe I have a coffee problem (I hesitate to use the word addiction). I know that most of the coffee I consume in a day isn't from need; it is purely out of habit and some sort of psychological itch that gets scratch when I drink coffee. 

Has anyone else struggled with this? How did you cope and then kick the habit? Is there room for a cup of coffee every day in my life or do I need to cut it out completely? Does anyone out there want to be the person that keeps me honest every day?

Erin

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Well, from personal experience in struggling with addiction, coffee can be added to the list for some (not saying it is the case for you).  What also can be added to the list is food addiction, more specifically processed salt and sugar.

Try telling someone to stop consuming caffeine, salt and sugar from their diet and it will be extremely difficult for some.  These stimulants, stimulate the mind and offer psychological effects when consumed and if a person has anxiety it will heighten that state as well.

I personally am ok with people drinking coffee if they enjoy it.  For myself it took replacing the coffee with water and my kidneys and brain have been thanking me ever since.  Good luck with kicking the coffee habit, it is very difficult for the first few weeks but after that it becomes nearly automatic, habit forming.

[sarahl]

I went off coffee for two weeks about a month ago. I replaced it with green tea. I felt TONS better; slept better, gut worked better, all of it. 

BUT, I missed the taste. I missed the morning ritual. In one cup, I was back to it; full force at the same level I had been drinking before. It sounds like addiction to me. It feels like addiction to me.

I'm okay with it. I'm not eating much processed sugar or boiling up some heroine. (not to make light of less 'socially acceptable' addictions)

I'm not perfect. I'm human. 

I suspect we all are.

[Mary]

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@whome wrote:

@peterr That is what the whole snopes link I sent is all about - but dihydrogen monoxide is not exactly a hoax - two hydogen and one oxygen makes H2O - it is a chemical - 

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It's water.  It's not dangerous.  

[whome]

Inhalation can be fatal! Prolonged contact with the solid form can cause serious tissue damage! Excess ingestion can lead to intoxication as well as electrolyte imbalances in the body! It is a powerful solvent. Water is not to be taken lightly! The article at Snopes.com (an urban legend investigation website) is enlightening and entertaining. 

The word "chemical" seems to be used as a perjorative by many these days. I strongly suspedt that many of those many didn't take or dropped out of chemistry and have no appreciation of the fact that most everything they perceive of the world is a result of the chemistry of this world and most of the rest has to do with physics. lol 

[DennisJK]

Actually, I switched to coffee from soft drinks in order to cut down on caffeine and chemicals.

I usually have one ten ounce cup a day in the morning after I get to work.  Sometimes I'll have another cup from Starbucks near where my kids take martial arts.  This replaces the 5 or 6 Diet Cokes I was drinking.

For me, it was a matter of forming a new habit.  Instead of quitting all at once, I quit the soft drinks a little at a time.  First, I got rid of the one in the evening.  Then the one in the afternoon.  Then the one at dinner, and finally the one at lunch.  Now I'm in the habit of drinking one cup of coffee in the morning after I get to work and water throughout the rest of the day.

[gerrymcd]

I had a really bad coffee 'habit' -- 8 to 10+ shots of espresso a day.  Rather than switching to decaf or trying to cut down I wen't 'cold turkey' and stopped completely.  I felt really bad for a month or 6 weeks.  No energy.  Almost like I was in the early stages of getting a cold/flu.  Then I started feeling really, really good.  Way more energy than when I was drinking a lot of coffee.  

Eventually I fell off the wagon, and started drinking the stuff once again.  But, these days I find I don't need - or particularly want - more than a cup a day.  Any more than that feels unpleasant.  

[85alex]

I don't think I was getting really bad, but I was getting to 3-4 cups a day. I ended up switching to green tea throughout the day  and just one cup of coffee in the morning. Has made a big difference, I feel the spikes/crashes way less.