It has been 4 months almost to the day that I stopped drinking coffee. How do I know that? Because it was difficult to give up...
Difficult but worth it. As I discussed in yesterday's post, the symptoms of estrogen dominance are real, hormonal breakouts are real, and I wanted to do everything I could to live a more pleasant life EVERY week and not just 2/4 weeks per month. I read contradicting studies about whether coffee was good or bad for the endocrine system (the system that regulates hormones). The results were pretty all over the place and inconclusive. But I knew personally coffee wasn't great for me and I wanted to do everything I could to fully commit to living a healthier lifestyle. It was then I made the decision to give it up.
Just to paint a picture: I loved coffee. I mean, I still do! I just don't consume it. I would have minimum 3 cups a day. One in the morning, another after lunch, and a third at night. And yes, still be able to fall asleep. I loved the smell, taste, and texture. So much so that I only ever drank it black (or occasionally with a splash of oat milk). And ah, what I would do for an americano.
But the relationship I had with coffee wasn't a good one. It caused me to be anxious, jittery, and even sometimes made me more tired than I was before drinking it. After I read about some of the effects coffee could have, things like raising cortisol (the stress hormone) or depleting nutrients from the body (like magnesium and B vitamins) I knew it was time for the final goodbye.
Now just to be clear, and to align with yesterday's post, a study by the NIH shows that coffee may actually LOWER estrogen. Depending on who you are. You can read it here. But other studies show that coffee and high amounts of caffeine intake can raise other hormones like cortisol that disrupt that delicate balance. So, the best thing to do is listen to your body. We all react to things very differently from one another. If you have been feeling that coffee maybe has more negative side effects than positive ones, or you're relying on it too much, experiment with giving it up for a little! You'll never know how you feel from eliminating it until you try.
How I Did It
Cold (tofu) turkey, baby. If you're eliminating coffee/caffeine for health reasons it is best to quit it quick rather than ease off of it so it can get out of your system. When it sucks, remember you're doing it for your health in the long run. Personally, I'd say it took about a month to get used to and also to see the effects. Although the first few days you may get tired earlier, this usually goes away after a week. I also substituted with teas and occasionally matcha. Products that still contain caffeine, just lower amounts. You may be asking: why not just drink decaf? You absolutely can if you're just looking to cut out caffeine. But, because I was doing this for health purposes, the way they extract caffeine from the coffee beans is not the most natural. Personally, I just avoided it and found other alternatives.
My Coffee Replacements
- Matcha lattes: Matcha is just so good for you. I love it in lattes because the consistency is the same as a coffee latte. I prefer to get matcha lattes from small coffee shops as it is healthier. Big chain coffee shops add way too much sugar to theirs to make the taste more appealing (check the nutrition info before you order if you're curious).
- Green tea with a splash of unsweetened oat milk: Oat milk has the creamiest consistencies out of all the non-dairy milks (so I find). Green tea has amazing benefits, and you still get that warm drink ritual.
- English breakfast tea with a splash of oat milk: A little more aromatic of a tea than green, I'll use english breakfast (or Irish breakfast) tea to switch up the taste. The best part of subbing tea for coffee is you still have a variety of flavors to choose from.
- Iced unsweetened green tea: The best coffee shop replacement if you're used to a no cal iced Americano.
- Iced chai latte: My alternative for an iced latte. I'll also only order this at a local coffee shop because of the added sugars bigger chains put in there's. For context: the Starbucks version contains 42g of sugar... yikes. I'll also make my own with this honey chai turmeric tea (one of my at-home favorites).
Do you need to give up coffee to be healthy? Absolutely not! But will you benefit from eliminating it from your diet or taking a break to allow your body to reset? Maybe! This article is to say that if you need to or want to give it up you can and there are great alternatives out there.
Did you stop drinking coffee for health reasons? Let me know in the comments below how your health improved and your best beverage alternatives!
xo.
