“What Happens When You Give Up Caffeine?”

Lowered Anxiety: Caffeine gives you a jolt of energy, but sometimes that jolt can mirror the symptoms of anxiety: jittery nervousness, heart palpitations, even feelings of panic. That’s your “fight or flight” response taking over. The less you take in, the less you trigger that response and the anxiety that comes with it.

Better Sleep: Caffeine is a common choice for burning the midnight oil because it boosts alertness. So, it makes sense that cutting it out makes for better ZZZs. In fact, if you throw back a caffeine drink even as many as 6 hours before bedtime, it can still bother your sleep.

Fewer Bathroom Breaks: Caffeine can act like a laxative. This makes you need to go more -- and more often than not, what comes out is loose stools. If you scale back on coffee especially, it can cut down on trips to the loo and take your output back to normal.

Less Breast Soreness: Although there aren’t studies to back up a link between caffeine and breast pain, many women say they feel less soreness when they take it out of their diet.

Slower Skin Aging: Caffeine slows down the rate at which your body makes collagen. This is a protein that gives your skin its tightness and elasticity. Once it drops, your skin starts to sag, and wrinkles appear. You make it more slowly as you age. So, if you get rid of caffeine, it can help keep that aging process from speeding up.

Dodging Dependence: Just like drugs, caffeine alters the chemistry of your brain if you take it in regularly over time. You can become dependent on it, too, and need more and more after a while just to feel the effects.

Better Nutrient Absorption: Large amounts of caffeine keep your body from taking in vitamins and minerals as it should. In fact, if you take a multivitamin with your morning cup of coffee, the caffeine could keep you from getting the benefits.

Stronger, Whiter Teeth: Coffee, soda, and tea are three of the most common caffeine delivery vehicles. All can stain your teeth with their acidity and color. Their caffeine also dries out your mouth. Saliva is a prime defense against bacteria, so the less you have, the higher the risk of tooth decay.

Lower Blood Pressure: Blood pressure spikes when you drink caffeine. Researchers think it might also keep your arteries from staying as wide as they should for healthy blood pressure. If you cut caffeine, you skip this blood pressure bump and potential complications along with it.

Withdrawal Symptoms: If caffeine is a big part of your daily diet, taking it away can have a host of unpleasant effects in the short term. These include headache, tiredness, sleepiness, down moods, trouble concentrating, and crankiness. You'll start to feel symptoms a day or two after you stop. They can last anywhere from 2 to 9 days.

Tip: Don’t Quit Cold Turkey - A step-by-step approach is your best bet. To start, replace half of your morning cup of joe with decaf, for example. Switch out your caffeinated foods and drinks over time with caffeine-free options to help ease withdrawal symptoms.

Tip: Hydrate and Rest - Keep the water coming when you give up caffeine. That plus plenty of sleep can help you sidestep many of the worst withdrawal symptoms.

Tip: Exercise - A regular dose of exercise gives you the serotonin boost your body craves so you can skip the chemical crutch. It will lift your mood and help you sleep better, too. Both can help you thrive through your withdrawal phase.

Coffee Alternatives

Why Cut Back? On the whole, caffeine seems to be safe for most people, at least up to the amount you’d get from four cups of brewed coffee a day. But that much could make you anxious, disrupt your sleep, or get your pulse racing.

Decaf: If you’re looking to cut back on coffee, this option gives you the taste with less caffeine. Some makers use chemicals or gases, like carbon dioxide, to remove the stimulant. The Swiss Water Method uses only water. Sellers must remove 97% of the caffeine from a bean to call it decaffeinated. After that, it’ll only have 3 milligrams to 12 milligrams per cup, compared with 100 milligrams in a regular cup.

Green Tea: If you’re ready to cut back on caffeine, it’s best not to do it too suddenly. That could leave you tired, groggy, foggy-brained, and peevish. It might also give you a splitting headache. Green tea can help. In addition to cell-protecting antioxidants, it has a quarter of the caffeine in a cup of coffee.

Golden Milk Turmeric Tea: This bright yellow spice could help your heart, ease arthritis pain, and relieve skin irritation from cancer treatments. Just stir it into a warmed jar of almond or coconut milk. Put a lid on it, and shake it until it’s good and frothy. Then, pour it into a cup and sprinkle it with bit of nutmeg. You can sweeten it with honey or sugar. But try it first. You may find it satisfying enough without sweetener.

Apple Cider Vinegar: Toss a capful or so into a glass of water or warm it up into hot tea. Add lemon, honey, and even cinnamon, if you like. Don’t overdo it, because the acid can hurt your teeth. Vinegar may help keep your blood sugar more stable after you eat, though doctors aren’t sure yet. You also might feel more satisfied on days you have vinegar and be less likely to overeat.

Maca: This root grows in the Andes Mountains in Peru. You can get it as a powder from health food stores and add it to smoothies or hot chocolate. More study is needed, but some evidence suggests it could make men and women more frisky and men more fertile. It might ease menopausal symptoms in women like hot flashes, night sweats, sleep problems, anxiety, depression, and irregular heartbeat.

Lemon Water: In winter, you can heat it up like tea. In summer, drink it over ice. Lemons, like other citrus fruits, are loaded with vitamin C along with other cell-protecting antioxidants like flavonoids. Some studies show that daily lemon juice helps control high blood pressure.

Carob: It’s made from the pod-like fruit of the carob tree. You can add it to hot chocolate or smoothies. You could also mix it with warm dairy, soy, or almond milk to make a drink that stands on its own. Carob is fiber-rich, helps digestion, and may even help keep your blood sugar and cholesterol at healthy levels.

Bone Broth: It can be made from beef, lamb, or chicken. Though it isn’t quite the nutritional powerhouse that some people have claimed, it's warm and satisfying on a cold winter’s day. Plus, it’s a great source of protein, with 6 to 12 grams per cup. And there’s some evidence that chicken bone broth helps clear your nose when you’re sniffly better than other hot drinks. It also might ease swelling and inflammation.

Kombucha: To make it, you add yeast and sugar to a tea mixture and let it ferment. This creates vinegar, B vitamins, and fizzy bubbles. The result is tangy, refreshing, and lower in sugar than many soft drinks. It may help keep you regular and boost your immune system, but researchers need further study to be sure. You can make it at home, but if you do it wrong, harmful bacteria could grow and make you sick.

Rose Hip Tea: Made from parts of several plants in the Rosaceae family, it offers vitamin C along with a number of cell-protecting and anti-inflammatory chemicals (phenolics, carotenoids). It seems to lessen arthritis pain, and it may help you keep your weight under control, too. But more research is needed to be sure.

Milk: Good ol’ fashioned milk is a great source of B vitamins, including riboflavin, niacin, B6, and B12. Getting your daily allowance helps your body process food into fuel and keep your energy levels up. Look for low-fat or skim milk if you want to limit calories and fat.

Coconut Water: It isn’t a miracle drink, but it’s better than many energy drinks because it has no caffeine and less sugar. It can also replace essential minerals called electrolytes that you lose when you sweat. Still, for all but the most draining workouts, water is all you need to rehydrate. And some coconut water is sweetened further with sugar or juice, so check the label if you’re trying to cut calories.

Reviewed by: Melinda Ratini, DO, MS on July 24, 2019

Reviewed by: Christine Mikstas, RD, LD on November 08, 2018

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