I quit caffeine cold turkey

My experience quitting caffeine cold turkey

During the past couple of weeks, I have been doing another one of my health experiments as I like to do from time to time. I have decided to give the carnivore diet a try for 30 days to see if it can help better my gut and sleep issues. More details on how that went will come in a future post. Anyways, eating a carnivore diet means getting rid of all plant-based foods and drinks from your diet. This also includes coffee. Even though many people on a carnivore diet still drink coffee, I wanted to try this diet without having it to see how it would affect me. So, during my second week of this carnivore experiment, I decided to quit coffee cold turkey. I had two final cups on Wednesday at around 8-9 AM.

The first day without coffee

When I woke up on Thursday I felt pretty good. I went to the gym and had a good workout, but I got some headaches during certain exercises. After the workout, the headaches completely vanished for a while. This meant that I could work productively until around 3 PM. That’s when the headache came back with a vengeance. This is not the first time that I have taken a break from coffee, but this headache was certainly one of the worst that I ever have had to endure. Usually, I would indulge in candy and other sweets to counteract the pain, but I could do nothing of that since I was simultaneously on the carnivore diet. I took some neutral-taste electrolytes, had some high-fat cream, and took a one-hour nap, but that was the extent of my attempt at remedying the pounding in my head. The headache got a bit more manageable after my nap, but it was still annoying and painful. I managed to have a pretty good night’s sleep.

The second day without coffee

When I woke up the next day I didn’t really have any headache, but I felt tired, sluggish, and in need of some coffee. The rest of the day went fine. I was more tired than usual, but the headaches were kept to a minimum. I did not feel like my usual self, but I felt that things were trending in the right direction. But I really did miss my morning cup.

The third day without coffee

Yet again I had an OK night’s sleep, but it was not better than usual. I again felt really tired and sluggish, but I still managed to drag myself to the gym to get a workout in, which didn’t really give me any energy either. My headaches were completely gone though, which was a positive sign. This was the day that I started to feel normal again.

The fourth day without coffee

As I’m writing this, I am actually on my fourth day without any coffee. Even though I had a pretty bad night’s sleep leading up to today, I don’t feel any urge to drink coffee. Obviously, it would be nice to have a cup in the morning when you wake up tired, but I don’t feel the physical addiction anymore. Now it’s more of a mental game. I might post an update later on when more time has passed to report more findings and conclusions. But now, let’s look at the theory behind how coffee and caffeine work.

How caffeine works

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant found in the leaves and fruits of some plants. Caffeine works by blocking the binding of adenosine to adenosine receptors. When adenosine is bound to adenosine receptors, it causes drowsiness by slowing down nerve cell activity. This mechanism allows adenosine to build up during the day, peaking at nighttime. This is one of the natural ways that the body makes you sleepy in the evening. To a nerve cell, caffeine looks very much like adenosine, so it will bind to the adenosine receptor, but without the effect of actual adenosine. This means that when caffeine binds to one of the receptors, it does not slow down the cell’s activity. It rather has the opposite effect. This is why you could feel a rush of energy flowing through your body after taking caffeine. But caffeine does not really create energy, it basically just delays the feeling of tiredness.

The caffeine crash

At some point in time after taking caffeine, the caffeine molecules will be released from the adenosine receptors. Exactly how long this takes depends on how quickly the individual metabolizes caffeine. Some people are fast metabolizers, meaning that the caffeine will be cleared from their system very quickly, while others are slow metabolizers. This is also part of the explanation as to why some people can drink coffee late at night and have no trouble falling asleep just an hour or two later. Anyways, when caffeine is released from the adenosine receptors, the actual adenosine molecules flood these receptors, which can cause a sudden feeling of tiredness. The reason for this sudden emergence of sleepiness is that while caffeine was blocking the adenosine receptors, the body was still producing adenosine at its usual pace. When these receptors then become available as the caffeine wears off, the body will go from having very little bound adenosine to have a large amount of bound adenosine in a very short time. Normally, if caffeine was not part of the equation, the adenosine would bind to the receptors at a much slower rate, which would lead to a more balanced feeling of energy and sleepiness throughout the day.

Caffeine and sleep

As many of you probably have experienced firsthand, caffeine can have negative effects on your sleep. According to this study, taking 400 mg of coffee (around 4-5 cups) at bedtime, three hours before bedtime or even six hours before bedtime induced significant disturbances in sleep for the study participants. The effect that caffeine has on sleep duration and sleep quality is of course different from person to person and depends on the individual’s caffeine tolerance and caffeine metabolism among other factors. As I alluded to earlier, some people might not have any problems at all drinking a large cup of coffee or two before going to bed, while just a small cup of coffee would keep some people up all night. I am most definitely one of the people who metabolize caffeine slowly, and my tolerance is quite low since I did not drink that much (1-2 cups a day), which is why I very rarely drink coffee after 11 AM. According to this meta analysis, caffeine typically prolonged sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep), reduced total time asleep and sleep efficiency, and also worsened perceived sleep quality.

Other potential downsides of caffeine and coffee

In some people, caffeine can induce anxiety. Caffeine is also addictive, and not drinking coffee can potentially lead to withdrawal symptoms (as it clearly did for me). As with any other stimulant, people also build up a tolerance to caffeine, demanding a higher dose to persist the same effects. Caffeine also has a diuretic effect, meaning an increase in urination. This can lead to the depletion of certain vitamins and minerals.

Upsides of caffeine and coffee

Enough with talking about the negative sides of coffee! Coffee and caffeine can of course also induce a myriad of health benefits.

• Coffee beans contain beneficial micronutrients and phytochemicals.
• Caffeine can enhance brain function and boost metabolism and mood.
• Coffee can potentially be a protective factor against developing Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s type 2 diabetes, and liver diseases.

Should you drink coffee or not?

With all this information in mind, one question still remains: Should you drink coffee or not? Well, I think it’s safe to say that if you enjoy your coffee, go for it! I certainly enjoy (or used to enjoy) my first cup of joe in the morning. If you struggle with anxiety or have sleep issues, it might be worth cutting back on the quantity, and also drinking your coffee earlier in the day, preferably before noon. It’s also worth looking at the quality of the coffee that you buy. If you can afford it, go for organic coffee to minimize the intake of toxic pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, and other additives that might be used at a regular coffee farm. If you are a heavy coffee drinker and you feel that the effect has worn off due to your high tolerance, I think it’s worth pausing caffeine for a while. A couple of years ago, I had a 10-month break from caffeine, and when I drank the first two or three cups after that, it was pure magic. I literally felt supercharged. I think that experience alone is worth giving up coffee for a while. I will try to prolong my coffee celibacy for long enough to experience that feeling again.