Most people I know drink coffee daily, and a lot of people have more than one cup a day. People always say how they need their coffee to remain sane or functioning, but I never drink coffee and I am more than fine. I feel my life is better than it would have been if I had picked up the habit of drinking coffee. I believe for a lot of people, coffee is the problem in their life that keeps them from functioning.
There are a lot of reasons why I don’t drink coffee but the most important reason is the amount of time and money I save. Not buying the overpriced coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin’ is honestly a big flex of mine. Even if you’re making your coffee at home, it is an extra expense that you don’t need. I know people who have to add coffee as an expense in their budgets, and I just think that I’d rather use my money elsewhere. With that comes the time I save. I don’t have to wait in the drive-through lines every day on the way to school or make sure I wake up with enough time to brew coffee in the morning because I need coffee before class. I think being able to use my time and money on a bigger variety of things than coffee is a huge benefit of the coffee-free lifestyle.
More reasons I feel people should consider giving up coffee include the possible health benefits of consuming less coffee. Coffee is addictive, people feel it is an essential thing to intake every day. A benefit of not drinking coffee is that you won’t get headaches from caffeine withdrawal if you miss a cup. Missing your daily coffee can make you feel irritable and like you have brain fog, but those would not be issues to worry about if you didn’t drink coffee in the first place. Another point is though coffee itself can be quite healthy, the additives everyone puts in their coffee are not. Adding extra sugar, whipped cream, caramel, or other syrups and flavoring to your coffee add a ton of empty calories into your daily diet. Having a sugary treat is okay once in a while, but having a massive intake of sugar daily from your coffee is unhealthy and unnecessary.
Lastly, I feel coffee shouldn’t be something everyone drinks every day because of the stress it can give you. A lot of people use caffeine as a pick-me-up, but with that comes the possibility of wrecking your sleep. Drinking coffee too late in the day can cause you to not be able to sleep as you should, which can add stress. Also, caffeine can give you a jittery feeling which can manifest into anxious feelings. Everyone wants to lessen their anxiety, and skipping coffee may be a way to help with that. Bonus: coffee can stain your teeth and give you coffee breath, which can be not fun and super stressful to try to deal with.
I won’t be drinking coffee, I don’t think there are many benefits to it, though I do see a lot of downsides. I understand that daily coffee trips are a habit for a lot of people, one that would be very difficult to break, but with all the information above it may be something to look into. Even cutting down on coffee could give you a new outlook on your obsession with it, and I encourage everyone to at least think about it!