any tips on giving up coffee?

[tinagwee]

I am trying to give up coffee (gives me palpitations) but I love it and need to stop but my brain doesnt function without it even though I only drink one a day. Started drinking coffee to enable me to give up diet coke so dont want to go back down that road.

any help. are there coffee patches? hehe

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Decaff ground coffee doesn't taste too bad. Not something I'd advocate however. Perhaps you could mix half real, half decaff?

[mlteenie]

I've not only got off coffee and tea (with milk) but I am now really into green tea.

Buy it loose (Twinings in Sainsbo's) cos it's much nicer than green tea bags and use one teaspoon per pot. You can reuse (ie. add water) the same spoonful of tea three times. Use water off the boil. Most of the caffeine is in the first brew so you can have that in the morning for a bit of a start then use the rest throughout the day. I can't bear black tea with milk any more and what's more, green tea is rammed full o' antioxidants, so is very good for you. Green tea is known for helping you feel calm yet alert.

[char1ie]

Take up cocaine. It's stronger.

Charlie

[Shu.Kurimu.Sensei]

I gave up coffee and cola years back, if you do some academic research on how caffeine along with other daily "treats" containing stimulants such as chocolate and fags are it becomes clear that giving up really can be hell and lead to becoming addicted to other stimulants instead!

Green tea does naturally contain caffeine also, but typically in lower amounts (although this does depend on the type of tea, how it is cultivated and its strength etc.). The antioxidants in Green tea however far outweigh the caffeine and I personally don't seem to feel the effects of the caffeine at all.

If you want to branch out in your green tea appreciation, do pop into The Rice Wine Shop on Brewer St in Soho, if you walk down that shopping arcade next to the number 12 bus stop at Picadilly Circus that has that soap shop, you should find yourself next to Brewer ST and the Rice Wine Shop looks like a little corner shop, it's next to an Arabic sweet shop. They have tons of teas which can be drank hot or cold (great tip for summer is to get a plastic container then bung a tea bag inside it with your water of choice, swirl it around then leave to settle).

They also sell Japanese Barley tea, blends of various Chinese teas also. Note that if the box has English on it, then if you can be arsed, they can be bought far cheaper in Chinatown.

Arigatou also in Brewer ST sell a good selection of teas, but are far more expensive.

If you are after gourmet Green Tea then you could do worse than pop into the basement of the Japan centre which have really great tea leaves kept in the refrigerator but which cost ?20+ a bag.

Too sweet for me, but across the road from the Japan centre is a traditional Japanese sweet shop. Stuff costs a fortune, is a very acquired taste but also largely hand made.

Definitely also worth doing some web searches on the many excellent Chinese teas out there which you won't see in Sainsburys or Waitrose especially for those aiding digestion, circulation etc which go for a fair price in Chinatown.

I tried matcha for the first time last year in Japan, despite Green Tea being an everyday drink for the last 14 years or so, had never got round to it, and it was very nice indeed.

Ever try the Matcha Chiller at "Eat"? A mix of vanilla shake and 2 teaspoonfuls of matcha tea = a yummy treat! Expensive at ?2.90 though.

Sorry, guilty of rambling again :-$

[SteveT]

I have not drunk tea or coffee for some years and have replaced them with chilled tap water, and hot chocolate for late night drink far less caffeine.

When I had my first coffee of the day it felt almost like a cap or weighty hat was being placed on my head a bit like a first fag of the day.

I dont drink alcohol or smoke and feel free'er of these habits.

Best of luck.

[Nero]

All good advice from Shu. There is a great tea bar in Spitalfields, selling Japanese, Chinese and Korean tea. They advise, you choose, they brew and you can keep a pot of leaves going for about three brews.

Teasmith

Nero

[wee quinnie]

Hi Tina,

I did this very thing myself recently - after drinking only 1 cup a day. I would recommend you go cold turkey on a day that you are not at work, and preferably have a few days off - ie. do it when you don't need it to help you be alert for something. Remember also, not to eat any chocolate (contains caffeine). The downside is, yes you will experience a bit of cold turkey, for 2 or 3 days - it feels a bit like you have the kind of headache you often get when you have the cold. However, if you take a few ibuprofen, it will definitely help. After 2 or 3 days, you will feel like a normal person. I found that it helped me to sleep better, and that I wasn't so zombie like in the morning. Also, I had lost my afternoon craving for a bar of chocolate.

I too love coffee, and I have found that proper Illy or Lavazza decaff coffee, is not bad at all. Good luck - and let us know how you get on!

[cdonline]

Never really enjoyed coffee, but I was addicted to diet coke.

I used to drink it for breakfast and then all day. Normally to get over a hangover or to wake me up.

It was a real shock to the system and felt so tired by the afternoon.

It doesn't last long. I try to get 7 hours sleep a night and try not to drink to excess, so that I don't have that groggy feeling in the morning where you feel you need to wake yourself out of.

I know that in my office, if the coffee runs out, particularly in the morning, the shock and worry on people's faces is a picture.

[mattham]

Forget about decaff; anything that goes through a nasty unnatural process can't be good for you. And it doesn't taste nice either, so what's the point?

I gave up caffeine a couple of years ago for the same reasons as you (used to have 5+ cups of black coffee a day). I was addicted to the process of making the drink as much as anything else. I found green tea good at first, whist still has a bit of caffeiene in, then on to caffeine free Rooibos tea, which is great because it tastes nice without milk.

I just have coffee as an occasional treat now ? only ever when I'm out, never instant ? and I love it. Good luck.

[mightyroar]

Yogi tea- Full of stimulating spices like cinnamon and cloves to wake you up, you can it buy it at health matters and SMBs

[Nero]

If you want a similar taste to coffee with less caffeine, why not try Luker chocolate. It is 100% cocoa and only one square is satisfying. There's no sugar in it, and you are meant to mix it with milk but I just like to nibble on it now and then to stop me from eating sugary chocolate. I know it has caffeine in it, but much less than your espresso and the like. By the way, does anyone have a Nespresso? My partner really likes espresso and they seem like the way to go. (Hate the idea of those little sachets, though.) Nero

[Asset]

Apparently espressos have the least amount of caffeine of any method of preparing coffee. Percolated coffee is also fairly low and coffee made using the filtering method and cafetieres has the most. It's to do with the amount of time the water spends in contact with the coffee grinds during the preparation. Maybe you could amend the way you make it for a while and see how that works.

[monica]

I had a horrible chest infection over xmas and went off coffee,i started drinking it again and my taste for it has never returned. Im sampling so many different herbal teas now and love the taste, go cold turkey dont bother with decaff because it still has caffeine in it although not us much,as regular coffee. water is great for clarity and energy levels.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Sure you're not pregnant Monica?

[Domitianus]

About two years ago I gave up drinking coffee for a while, having realised that my consumption was easily up to about 15 cups a day. Everyone was telling me how I would suffer terrible withdrawal headaches etc etc. Err...I didn't. In fact it was all quite easy. I went back on coffee again after about a few months simply because it was so awkward dealing with teabags.

[Azul]

The first time I quit smoking I stopped for about 3.5 years, then I started working in an office where you couldn't smoke inside so you had to go to the stairs of the building. Everyone in my team smoked but me, so when they went for a smoke break I would just go along with them and stood doing nothing.

after a few days, I thought I need something to do while these guys are all puffing away.

I got myself an expresso.

month and a half later I was drinking 14 expressos a day.

Then I decided to start smoking again.

One of these days I plan to quit sex too, and maybe some day when I don't feel any joy in life anymore, I will stop and look back to what was the point of quitting all the good things in the first place.

Morning sex followed by an expresso and a cigarrete on a rainny day are the best things ever.

[Azul]

oh yeah,

you had never appreciated coffee before you met me.

I'm glad I addicted another one.

[benjaminty]

Tinagwee,

I gave up caffeine last January ... I too was addicted to the evil DC and Pepsi Max and then Coke Zero. probably gone close to never missing a drop of coke for maybe 20+ years so I know how it feels.... (a v sad admission there).

I have to say, just being strong and going cold turkey is the only way... strength of will is best. Accomplish a month and just remind yourself that'll you'll be letting yourself down if you come close to breaking.

This is really sad but all this talk of DC leaves me clucking for an ice cold one! Damn this thread! :'(

Good luck..... it really is easier than you think and I have never ever slept so soundly!