I went 30 days without coffee and this is what I noticed:
This past fall I had come to terms with the fact that I, like many college students, was indeed a caffeine addict. I was getting coffee at least once a day, sometimes twice if I was feeling crazy. However, I started noticing that I was having some negative side effects due to the insane amount of coffee I was drinking. I wasn’t sure if these ‘side-effects’ were just in my head or if they truly existed, so I did what any sane person does: I googled it. Turns out, negative side-effects from coffee are actually pretty common. According to Healthline.com some negative side effects that you can experience from coffee are as follows: Anxiety, Insomnia, Digestive issues, Muscle breakdown, Addiction/Reliance on caffeine, High blood pressure, Rapid heart rate, Fatigue, and Frequent urination/urgency- yuck. These reactions to caffeine obviously depend on how frequently you consume it, how much you consume, and when you consume, but reading that list was enough to convince me to lay back on my own consumption. So, I made a commitment to myself and my health and completely cut out coffee for 30 days. I told friends, family and even my RA of my self-experiment in order to provide myself with some accountability. The reactions to my news were exactly what I thought they’d be: shocked. If you know me, you know my love for coffee and to hear that I was going to part with my one and only true love was insane. However, I did it, and I did it cold turkey… and let me tell you, it wasn’t easy.
Days 1-7: Honestly, the first few days weren’t too hard besides feeling a little groggy. It was a little weird not going to the local coffee places around campus to do homework and study, but it allowed me to rediscover the library and I actually got more work done there than I ever did at my favorite cafes. Physically, I didn’t feel much different without the caffeine and my cravings weren’t that intense, yet.
Days 8-14: Heading into the halfway mark of my coffee/caffeine-free journey was when I felt the worst. Headaches, moodiness, and general cravings for coffee plagued me and made me feel crappy. I was pretty much a monster this whole week and I complained A LOT during this period, contemplating whether or not to break my streak a few times, but I told everyone I wasn’t going to quit and momma didn’t raise no quitter.
Days 15-21: During the third week of my coffee hiatus I actually experienced some changes. Mentally I noticed my anxiety was a little bit better, especially at night when it typically gets worse. Physically, I wasn’t getting random stomach aches throughout the day and felt overall less bloated which is always a plus. I didn’t feel the need for coffee as much and it became routine for me to go to the library. My sleep schedule became better and my energy levels were pretty consistent throughout the day. Overall, I was feelin’ gooooood.
Days 22-30: I had done it. I had made it to my last full week of being a coffee-less queen. Honestly, I wasn’t dying to try coffee again, but sometimes I looked at someone else’s coffee and thought to myself, “hey that looks kinda good”, but I didn’t feel the need to run and grab my own cup. This is what we like to call, ~self-control~, something I never thought I would have when it came to coffee. Physically, my improvements from the previous week stayed relatively the same, as with the mental improvements.
Final thoughts: After this self-challenge was over, I didn’t immediately start drinking coffee again. I actually waited a few more days because I just didn’t feel the urge to drink it. However, I didn’t swear off coffee forever, I just drink it way less than I used to. Not only do my physical and mental health thank me for cutting back, but so does my bank account. Even though coffee doesn’t seem expensive, every cup adds up. According to Marketwatch.com, the average cup of coffee costs around $2.99, not too bad right? Nope, wrong. If you bought coffee every day for 30 days with the average price of $2.99 you’d pay 89.70 across those 30 days. That’s crazy! What’s worse is sometimes those cute cafes that we all like going to are even more expensive, costing upwards of $5 dollars a cup… that’s $150 dollars for 30 days, yikes. Math aside, there are plenty of reasons to cut back on coffee and I highly suggest doing so. Now, I’m not saying give up coffee for life (even though that would probably be great for you), but definitely take into consideration how it’s affecting you and see if you can relax your coffee-drinking habits. If not for your health, then for your bank account, sis.
