Breaking Your Caffeine Habit

Caffeine Side Effects

If you’re unsure whether your body is hooked on caffeine, just quit it for a day. If you start experiencing withdrawal symptoms such as severe headaches, irritability, muscle aches, drowsiness and nausea, then you have a physical dependence.

Caffeine can also have other nasty side effects such as temporary rises in blood pressure, heart palpitations, dehydration and heartburn. Some people feel jittery, shaky, agitated and nervous and are unable to get a good night’s sleep after consuming caffeine. For women, caffeine may intensify the symptoms of premenstrual tension syndrome and fibrocystic breasts. It might also hasten calcium loss from bones in menopausal women.

Dr. Cotterel says it’s best for some people to scrap their caffeine consumption entirely.

“Pregnant women should avoid caffeine, particularly at high doses, since it crosses the placenta and has been shown to increase the incidence of miscarriages, stillbirths, premature and low birth weight deliveries,” Dr. Cotterel says. “It has also been shown to elevate blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine, which has been implicated as a risk factor in coronary artery disease.”

How Much Is Too Much?

Most experts agree moderate amounts of caffeine won’t harm you, but drinking more than 600 mg of coffee or other caffeinated drinks each day is too much. Here’s a breakdown of how much caffeine is in some of the most common caffeine sources:

• One cup of coffee has 100 to 150 mg of caffeine, depending on the brewing method.
• One cup of black tea has 50 to 75 mg of caffeine, half as much as a cup of coffee.
• One can of soda has about 35 mg of caffeine.
• A bar of milk chocolate has 6 mg of caffeine.
• A cup of decaf coffee still has 4 mg of caffeine.

Breaking the Habit

Quitting your caffeine habit cold turkey can be tough and physically unpleasant, so Dr. Cotterel suggests gradually easing off on your daily caffeine consumption.

“Depending upon your level of daily intake, you might want to cut your caffeine level in half the first week and in half again on week two. Some patients have found it useful to go to half-decaf, and then to decaf, then to gradually replace the decaf with another non-caffeinated beverage,” he says. “The same can be done with tea or soda drinkers.”

Dr. Cotterel says the stress of the transition on your body can be eased by taking a vitamin B complex supplement, and by the temporary use of an herbal supplement such as panax ginseng. Ginseng has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years and can help improve your resistance to external stresses.

If you’re still hankering for a hot cup of liquid, try switching to green tea or herbal tea. A cup of green tea contains not only about 30 to 35 mg of caffeine, but also about 100 mg of polyphenols, naturally occurring potent antioxidants thought to possess cancer prevention properties. Caffeine-free herbal teas are another good option, Dr. Cotterel says.

“If you haven’t wandered through the tea section of your local health food store or food cooperative, you may be surprised at the selection of individual and combination herbal teas that are available. You could drink a different herbal tea each week for the rest of your life,” he says.

A few examples of healthy herbal teas include chamomile, which relaxes the nerves; peppermint, which helps with intestinal problems; raspberry, which can help tone the uterine muscles during pregnancy; rosehips, which is high in vitamin C; and licorice, which soothes the nose, mouth and stomach.