5 Reasons to Consider Cutting Back on Caffeine
1. Anxiety
Caffeine is a stimulant. If you struggle with anxiety, the last thing you would want to do is exacerbate the symptoms. Such symptoms can include sweating, restlessness, racing thoughts, rapid heart beat and breathing.
If I had a dollar for every time a client with anxiety came in with a large caffeinated beverage...I'd have a lot of dollars!
When someone is truly anxious, you usually start to feel that way, too. Perhaps the anxious person is fidgeting - bouncing their leg or changing positions - yes, this can be a number of things including anxiety.
If this is you, then you should look at your caffeine consumption and consider cutting back on caffeine. Look at the ingredient list if you're unsure.
Use a caffeine journal to track consumption and symptoms to see if there's a correlation, and track the effects of cutting back on caffeine.
Check out Gina Leggio's Holistic Approach to Panic Attack Symptoms for more anxiety reducing tips.
2. Palpitations
Caffeine increases heart rate and blood pressure. With rapid heart rate, you're more likely to experience the uncomfortable sensation of your heart beating too rapidly or perhaps even irregularly.
Increased blood pressure can cause headache or feeling flushed. If you are diagnosed with hypertension, then you should be very mindful of how caffeine might affect your blood pressure.
Women seem especially prone to heart arrhythmias. While many of these arrhythmias are not dangerous (consult a healthcare professional to be certain), they can be scary to experience.
Many women do not tolerate medical treatments of benign arrhythmias because they can lower blood pressure.
If you don't have high blood pressure, then the medication can make you feel sluggish. Cutting back on caffeine is a more tolerable intervention.
3. Sleeplessness
Caffeine promotes wakefulness, which is a good thing when you need to be awake. But the effects of caffeine can last for hours, and you don't want them to interfere with your bedtime routine.
Everyone's caffeine tolerance level will differ, so you need to determine the time of day to stop caffeine consumption so it doesn't affect your ability to sleep.
Conservative sources recommend stopping caffeine consumption as early as 10 am or noon (sometimes that's when my day is just getting started). The right time for your caffeine cessation will depend on several factors: your tolerance level as well as the time you get up in the morning and the time you go to bed.
The effects of caffeine can start to be felt in about 15 minutes, typically peak around the one hour mark and remain steady for several hours, not clearing your system for 6-10 hours (the Cleveland Clinic). Now the early cut off times are starting to make more sense!
4. Toxicity
You can have too much caffeine. If caffeine typically makes you feel alert and productive, then don't think that consuming higher levels of caffeine would make you feel more alert and productive.
The FDA set a daily limit of 400 mg of caffeine for adults. There is no safe limit identified for others, so caffeine should be avoided in young children (the Mayo Clinic).
Caffeine toxicity exists and can cause chest pain, stroke and deadly heart arrhythmias - definitely NOT good things!
Check out this FDA article for more information on how much is too much caffeine.
12 oz. can soda | 30-40 mg caffeine |
8 oz. cup tea | 30-50 mg caffeine |
8 oz. cup coffee | 80-100 mg caffeine |
8 oz. energy drink | 40-250 mg caffeine |
There is a range of caffeine for each category, and in the case of energy drinks, quite a wide range. So be sure to track how much caffeine you're consuming, and consider cutting back on caffeine if you're experiencing any of the aforementioned undesirable effects.
5. Withdrawal
With tolerance of or dependence on a substance comes the potential for withdrawal syndromes - usually the opposite effect of your experience when using that substance.
So if consuming caffeine typically makes you feel alert and focused; without it, you may feel tired and scattered. And have you ever experienced a caffeine withdrawal headache? Talk about not being able to concentrate!
Caffeine withdrawal symptoms can be experienced when use is stopped completely, or if the level of consumption fluctuates widely from one day to another.
If you need to cut back, you can't go wrong with a gradual taper. Start with eliminating your latest caffeinated beverage of the day, or substituting with an alternative with less caffeine, and go from there.
Swapping a caffeinated beverage on the go with a copycat version at home can be a great way to reel in your overall daily caffeine content (and save some coins). Try this DIY Starbucks White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew.
Conclusion
There's a reason caffeine is considered the most popular substance. Many of us start our day with it, and have more throughout the day. The benefits of caffeine consumption include feelings of alertness and improved concentration. Indeed, consuming caffeine seems like a lifestyle that many of us link to feelings of happiness.
Caffeine consumption can be a social event, and many of us identify as coffee lovers. If you're feeling great and staying within recommended daily amounts of caffeine intake, then bottoms up!
However, if you struggle with anxiety, palpitations, high blood pressure or sleeplessness, then you should consider cutting back on caffeine.
Start with logging how much caffeine you're consuming. Correlate caffeine consumption with how you're feeling and make adjustments if needed. Rinse and repeat.
Cutting back on caffeine is a small lifestyle change that has the potential to address various concerns.
Are you a caffeine consumer? How is your caffeine tolerance? Have you ever cut back or considered cutting back on caffeine?
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