Kicking the Coffee Habit

Posted by Dave and Dennis on August 24th, 2005 at 08:18am

By Richard Walker

I don’t want to make you spill your latte, but this is the 25th day since my last coffee. On Tuesday, July 19, I had two plunger cups before heading to Auckland, New Zealand, for the day.

I knew my resolution to give up was going well when I was not tempted by the city cafes.

And the next day, I was even more sure, when the inevitable headache didn’t kick in until midday and was easily dispatched by a couple of painkillers.

It was the start of a two-week holiday and my best chance to quit, away from the triggers presented by work. I went cold-turkey, because previous efforts to control my consumption had invariably failed. For a while I could manage on a cup a day, then it would be two, then three … and then pretty much any number you care to name.

This was bad for my sleep, bad for my anxiety levels and bad for my concentration. Now, of course, I’m sharp as a tack. I drink tea, plenty of it, but weak and black — and it doesn’t have anything like the same impact as coffee. In particular, I feel a lot, well, perkier in the afternoons, which has been an unexpected bonus.

For the record, I drink a lot of English Breakfast and some Earl Grey, with even the odd caffeine-free chai thrown in. The chai, while having a disgusting bouquet of overpowering vanilla, mellows to a satisfyingly full and well-balanced taste on the palate and a warm aftertaste superior to the slight bitterness left by black tea. Something like that, anyway.

Being a born-again tea drinker and in the interests of converting a few others, I talked to Cathy Khouri, a registered dietitian and registered nutritionist. She promptly took the wind out of my sails.

“I don’t want to lose sight of the pleasure you can have from enjoying coffee. I don’t think that should be taken away.”

“The Heart Foundation suggests moderation is fine,” Khouri says, “with no negative health effects if a healthy adult’s daily intake is four to five cups.” That excludes pregnant women and children.

“They consider excessive amounts to be over eight cups a day, where there can be health problems. They say more than eight cups a day does increase the risk of coronary heart disease.”

Short-term effects include disrupted sleep and nerviness. “That can be uncomfortable, and not helpful in the workplace especially.”

She says there can also be a problem with irritation of the gut for some, and points out coffee is a diuretic.

“Also the change in the rhythm of the heart, which is called ectopic heart beat, can be a problem and quite scary for some people.”

“As to breaking an addiction, the best way varies from person to person,” she says. I was lucky, apparently: Most people on withdrawal are likely to suffer far worse headaches.

But Khouri is no coffee doom-sayer. “On the positive side, coffee is a pleasurable drink. In the morning when you’re feeling a bit lackluster, it does give you ‘oomph,’ and there’s nothing wrong with that.

“I’m careful about my coffee intake. I don’t have it, say, after 5 p.m. I enjoy a good cup of coffee, I don’t enjoy a bad cup of coffee. If it’s a choice between a bad cup of coffee or not, I’ll have the ‘or not’.”

This is all potentially tempting, but I’m resolute in my abstinence. Cup of camomile, anyone?

Source: Waikato Times. Powered by Yellowbrix.

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