Gave up coffee...wow!

[Bookbear]

Without coffee, I would have no personality.





Of COURSE 'size matters'... no one wants a small cup of coffee.

That said, I don't drink the stuff after 5pm.

[chunkyfrog]

I drink it any time I please--but always decaf.
However, I have an addiction to dark premium chocolate.

[Bookbear]

I would really miss the caffeine.
However, I do fully support dark chocolate! Love Trader Joe's Pound Plus Belgian bittersweet chocolate with almonds....

[Conrad]

If you are going to go chemophobic, acrylamide occurs naturally in coffee beans and is still there in brewed coffee.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies acrylamide as a “probable human carcinogen.”
The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) has classified acrylamide as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies acrylamide as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”

After you consider that, research some of the other chemicals that occur naturally in coffee - Dimethyl disulfide, 3,5-Di-caffeoylquinic acid, trigonelline, quinic acid and others.

Mmmmmm, I just finished my second cup of coffee, fully caffeinated. Delicious.

BTW Granny. I get my coffee from an outfit in your neck of the woods. I've been buying from them, and having my whole beans delivered, for 20 years or more. I HIGHLY recommend them.

https://coffeeandtea.com/

[Coatimundi]

I switched to morning hot cocoa. It helps with a bit of a pick me up in the morning but not enough for me to have anxiety or stomach problems and by evening I am tired again.

[chunkyfrog]

My morning cocoa often gets a dose of decaf for flavor.
Or I drop a crushed starlight mint in the cup.
Yum.

[Janknitz]

For years I weaned off caffeinated coffee for a month every year before the long, dry fast of Yom Kippur to try to avoid the awful headache I attributed to caffeine withdrawal. But I got the headache anyway. It's brutal.

This year I decided not to give up caffeine. Still got the headache. I think it's dehydration, rather than caffeine--no food or liquid between sundown and past sundown the next night--about 26 to 28 hours depending on when the holy day falls in the calendar. I'm not that diligent of being hydrated in the first place, so I don't have a lot of reserve. I only drink one cup of coffee a day--a largish cup, with breakfast. I avoid caffeine otherwise for the most part. I didn't notice any improvement in my sleep when I would wean off caffeine in years past.

[joeljjk11]

My wife gave up coffee because she doesn’t have a gall bladder or thought it was making her stomach issues worse. She was right. I wanted to also cut back so I just had one cup a day. My sleep is significantly better after cutting it out completely compared to just one cup early in the morning. My wife told me sleep would be a lot better even after one cup difference and it is true. The weird thing about caffeine is that it is a psychoactive substance and it is normal in society that everyone drinks it, but it really is weird. I also have way more energy that is consistent throughout they day instead of crashing in the afternoon. It took me about 2-3 weeks to feel consistent energy when waking up and throughout the day. The worst thing is drinking coffee late in the day because the quarter life of caffeine is about 12 hours, so if you have a cup in the afternoon a quarter of the caffeine is still in your system when going to bed, it is the equivalent of taking a few gulps of Starbucks and hopping in bed hoping for a good nights sleep. Probably won’t happen.

Again highly recommend Why We Sleep by Dr Matthew Walker, great book and very interesting.

[ChicagoGranny]

Surprised no one mentioned the second big benefit of coffee - gets a poop going.

[chunkyfrog]

My mom's coffee was so strong, the ranch hands would tease her about it.
One even broke an old spoon, trying to tell her it dissolved in her coffee.
Strong coffee helped prevent migraines for her and the bullfrog's mom.

[ILoveFlowers]

I drink it any time I please--but always decaf.
However, I have an addiction to dark premium chocolate.

Me too! Now they're saying there is lead and cadmium in the chocolate. Ai yi yi. If that's true, I must be loaded with lead and cadmium!

[Bookbear]

They say every piece of chocolate eaten shortens your life by two minutes.
I've done the math.
Seems I died in 1537.

[Conrad]

They say every piece of chocolate eaten shortens your life by two minutes.
I've done the math.
Seems I died in 1537.

Who says that? I want names dammit!

[Bookbear]

T.H.E.Y., a global conglomerate (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Wesayso Corporation, LLC).

[Conrad]

T.H.E.Y., a global conglomerate (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Wesayso Corporation, LLC).