Billions of people worldwide drink coffee or some form of caffeine everyday. Although caffeine is generally accepted as safe for consumption in moderation, there are some solid benefits of breaking the habit and quitting coffee, energy drinks, tea, soda etc.
1. Break the Addiction
In most people caffeine is an addictive substance to some degree, although some would describe it as highly addictive. Depending on a substance to function normally or even stay awake, can become a vicious cycle. It changes our brain’s chemistry resulting in the need for more of the substance to achieve the desired results. Quitting caffeine or coffee breaks the cycle and frees us from needing a daily drug to function normally.
2. Financial Savings
The cost of a caffeine addiction can add up and thousands of dollars a year and could be saved if you quit. Two Starbucks Lattes per day would cost $2,665 a year!
A Grande Starbucks Latte: $3.65 a day | $26 a week | $1,332 a year
Monster Energy Drink: $3 a day | $21 a week | $1,095 a year
Home brewed coffee: $.71 a day | $5 per week | $259 a year
K-cups: $.65 a day | $4.55 a week | $237 a year
5 hour energy: $3 a day | $21 a week | $1,095 a year
Above we have listed the average cost of just one beverage a day, now multiply that by the number you have each day and it quickly adds up.
3. Lower Blood Pressure
Caffeine can raise your blood pressure a few points and even more in some people. Quitting coffee or caffeine can lower your blood pressure and keep your heart from working as hard.
4. Better Sleep
Caffeine can greatly reduce the amount and quality of sleep. Drinking coffee or energy drinks too late in the day can interfere with getting to sleep since the half-life of caffeine is 4-6 hours. Even people who have no caffeine after 12 noon report a better quality of sleep after quitting caffeine.
5. Better Mood
Caffeine alters the mood. Many report being grumpy until they’ve had their morning coffee and others feel lethargic when the caffeine begins to wear off in the afternoon. Quitting can even out the ups and downs.
6. Decreased Anxiety
Many people report that caffeine increases their anxiety levels. This has to do with how caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands. Quitting coffee or caffeine can make you feel less anxious, especially if you are prone to anxiety issues.
7. Fewer Headaches
Caffeine is a major trigger for headaches. Any alteration in your normal daily caffeine consumption can result in a caffeine withdrawal headache. Caffeine can also be a migraine trigger.
8. Convenience
Imagine never having to stop at Starbucks on the way to work? Imagine never having to stop by the convenience store for a Red Bull? Imagine erasing making coffee from your morning routine? Imagine a backpacking trip without packing caffeine pills or the extra weight of coffee making equipment? Being addicted to coffee, energy drinks, or soda creates inconvenience in our lives since we need the drug to function.
9. Fewer Trips to the Bathroom
Caffeinated beverages cause us to urinate more often and in some people even can cause incontinence. Caffeine also stimulates the smooth muscles of the colon, which cause them to contract. This can be challenging during meetings, road trips, or when bathrooms aren’t convenient. Quitting can reduce the need to use the bathroom as often, especially in the mornings.
10. Healthier Teeth
Coffee and tea stain teeth and acidic & sweet energy drinks or sodas erode tooth enamel and can cause tooth decay. Eliminating these beverages results in whiter and healthier teeth.
11. Weight Loss
Unless you drink your coffee black. Caffeinated beverages generally add empty calories to our diets that we don’t really need. Many experts say that sugary beverages are a huge component of the obesity epidemic plaguing the western world. A study from Victoria University found that when caffeine is in a sugary beverage it causes people to consumed more of that sugary beverage compared to a sugary beverage without caffeine.
Quitting just a one Monster Energy Drink/day habit saves 200 calories per day, 1,400 calories a week, or 73,000 calories a year! Quitting just 1 Starbucks Vanilla Latte/day saves 250 calories per day, 1,750 calories a week, or 91,250 calories a year! Quitting a 16 fl.oz. Coke/day habit saves 239 calories a day, 1,673 calories a week, or 87,235 calories a year! 1 pound of fat contains the equivalent of 3500 calories, so do the math…
12. Healthier Diet
Bottled coffees, teas, energy drinks, and sodas often contain an assortment of preservatives designed to give them a longer shelf-life. These preservatives can have adverse health effects and some are even banned by other countries. Sugar-free energy drinks and sodas contain artificial sweeteners that also can negatively affect your heath. Cutting these out of your diet can be beneficial to your overall long-term good health.
13. Cleaner Environment
Caffeine addiction places a tremendous strain on our natural resources. Think of the number of plastic bottles, cans, and cups that have to be produced in order to meet the demand. “Americans discard about 33.6 million tons of plastic each year, but only 6.5 percent of it is recycled and 7.7 percent is combusted in waste-to-energy facilities, which create electricity or heat from garbage. The rest ends up in landfills where it may take up to 1,000 years to decompose..” – State of The Planet
Also, caffeine has been showing up in municipal water supplies because of all the discarded coffee grounds. Quitting caffeine reduces your environmental footprint.
14. Caffeine Will Work Again
Consuming caffeine daily quickly causes the human body to build up tolerance. The same dose of caffeine then causes a person to achieve a sense of normalcy rather than the euphoric feelings it once did. Quitting resets your body’s caffeine tolerance, allowing it to work really well on the occasions you really need it to.
15. Possible Drug Interactions
Caffeine can interact with other medications causing them to not work as they should. Giving up caffeine eliminates this risk.
16. No More Jitters
One of the leading side-effects from caffeine or coffee consumption is jitters or shaky hands. This can range from annoying to even debilitating for some people. Quitting can give you your steady hands back.
17. Less Risk of Cardiac Events
Caffeine stimulates the heart muscle causing it to beat with more forceful contractions. While this isn’t problematic for most people, those with underlying heart conditions can be at risk. People can be unaware that they even have a heart disorder until they begin to consume caffeine and the damage is done.
18. Increased Productivity
What would you do with an extra hour everyday? Those addicted to caffeine can easily waste an hour standing in line at the coffee shop, making trips to the break room, talking to coworkers along the way, and stopping at convenience stores. The time saved could be used for an extra hour of sleep instead!
19. Reduced Type 2 Diabetes Risk
While black coffee actually has been shown to reduce diabetes risk, drinking sugary coffee and caffeinated beverages actually increases your risk of diabetes. “People who consume sugary drinks regularly—1 to 2 cans a day or more—have a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes” – Harvard School of Public Health
20. Better Health
Many research studies point to the health benefits of coffee and tea because of their antioxidant properties. However, this isn’t true for all caffeinated beverages. Soda, energy drinks, and processed coffee and tea products most likely have a negative impact on your long-term health. People who drink mainly water report more natural energy, better overall feelings of wellness, better sleep, and healthier skin.
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