My Journey to Kick My Caffeine Addiction

Anyone who knows me would know what a coffee addict I am. I had my first cup of coffee when I was in secondary 4 and cramming for an exam. The boost of alertness from instant Nescafe allowed me to pull all nighters which contributed to passing my O-levels. From then on, it led me down the rabbit hole of coffee addiction. 

First, the recipe was 1 teaspoon instant nescafe, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 teaspoons of coffee mate. Then I dropped the sugar so I could taste more of the coffee. One day, I met a senior at work who used a french press to brew his coffee. I tried a cup and never looked back to instant coffee. I followed suit and started to plunge pre-grinded coffee beans. When I furthered my studies in Australia, my taste buds were exposed to pressurised coffee (espresso) and the beautiful combination with frothed milk - flat whites. During cold winter mornings, a hot cuppa flat white not only brought the much needed caffeine dose but the comfort and warmth that a tropical guy like me needed in a temperate country. When i returned, a friend introduced me to post lunch espressos claiming that it's how the italians do it. I loved the buzz you get after a shot of espresso avoiding the post lunch crash. As my appreciation for what some might call it addiction grew, so did my coffee making paraphernalia. At work, we even had a coffee club consisting of 2 other friends and fellow addicts and me. We would come in early just to hand grind coffee beans so that we can have a fresh cup of joe before work began. Drinking coffee with friends became a social event that comes with the practical reason of ingesting caffeine.  At that point, I was having a morning coffee to start the day, an espresso after lunch and sometimes a pre-exercise coffee after work. 

I drank coffee when i’m sad, I drank coffee when i’m glad. It served both as a source of comfort and a medium of celebration. My identity was deeply rooted as a coffee lover. “Hi, my name is Justin and I’m a coffeeholic.” There were occasions when I had to refrain from coffee because I was having gastroenteritis or had fallen ill. I would feel moody and irritable and having the first cup after abstaining felt like the heavens have opened up and there's meaning to live again. It was then that I realised I was dependent on coffee. 

When I first did my SHAE health assessment (Click to find out more about SHAE) and found out that caffeine was under my ‘avoid list’ I felt my world crumbling down. How can I give up this substance that gives me joy, happiness and makes me productive? How do I renounce my identity as a coffee lover? Does it mean I cannot drink coffee when I socialise? I felt it was one of the hardest to give up. I have gone vegan for weeks, done fasting but to give up coffee felt like it would kill me. For months I did not heed SHAE’s advice of reducing caffeine and continued my additive indulgence of my daily liquid gold. 

Then one day, I had an epiphany! Here I am as a health coach encouraging people to change their habits for better health and yet I am dependent on this drug called coffee. I needed to kick this addiction. Hence, I embarked on this journey of kicking my caffeine addiction. 

Step 1: Delay the first urge

It has been almost instinctive to wake up and brew a cup of coffee and that's what addicts do. The first strategy is to delay the first urge. I would aim to wait til at least 2 hours upon waking to have my first coffee. The beginning was tough. It felt like something was missing in my routine. Instead of brewing coffee, I had a cup of hot water which still gave the warmth of coffee which helped delay the urge to reach for coffee first thing in the morning. At times the urge still came but I just needed to tell myself that in a couple of hours, I still had the chance of having the taste of coffee in my mouth. By delaying the first urge, it helped chip away a small chunk of stronghold that the caffeine addiction had on me. It was definitely not the be all and end all and there was much to travel in this journey. 

Step 2: Desensitise the taste buds 

For years, my taste buds have been spoiled with better and better tasting coffees. The more I drink, the more I feel I need coffee. I needed to get used to not having the taste of good tasting coffee on a regular basis. On some days, instead of freshly grinding my beans, I chose to drink instant coffee. Any coffee would know, u can’t go back to instant after you have tasted the symphony of flavours from freshly grounded beans. But at least I was still getting some dose of caffeine into my system. It was a gradual weaning off of coffee. I did not set a timeline but once it didn’t feel painful not to drink good coffee, I knew I was ready to proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Removing caffeine 

Once my taste buds were desensitised to good coffee, the next step was to remove caffeine altogether in my daily life. As I still loved the process and art of brewing coffee together with the aroma it brings, I chose to go with decaffeinated beans. This way, I still get to enjoy the ritual of grinding the coffee beans, and the ceremonial-like process of performing the pour over. Most decaffeinated beans are not as aromatic as regular coffee due to the extra process of removing caffeine that waters down the taste. If I did not perform step 2, step 3 would have been more painful. 

What changes did I feel after kicking the addiction?

As the process was very gradual, taking 3 months,  there were no major cold turkey symptoms which made it a much more pleasant experience. In the morning, I feel more refreshed and am ready to go the moment I wake up. One possible reason for this is that the half life of caffeine is 6 hours and the quarter life 12 hours. Taking a cup of coffee at 12pm would mean that at 12 midnight, there is still ¼ the amount of caffeine in our system. Caffeine has been found to affect deep sleep and hence, affect recovery. Even though I did not measure my deep sleep, subjectively, I could feel more energised in the morning. I am also feeling more energetic throughout the day and avoid the big crashes that happen in the afternoon calling out for a cup of coffee or a nap. 

Am I still caffeine free?

After actively reducing my caffeine dose and inevitably my caffeine addiction for 3 months, I have allowed myself to return to regular coffee from time to time. When I do, I try to only have it before 12pm and with a limit of 1 cup per day. My average cup of caffeinated coffee is about 2 cups of coffee per week. This makes me appreciate each cup of coffee even more  and makes the experience even more precious. Besides that, there is a sense of empowerment when you have successfully broken away from the chain of an addiction. There is a lightness and a sense of freedom that you are not subjected to its stronghold. 

Would I recommend going caffeine free for everyone?

I would recommend kicking the habit if it is an addiction for you. However, used wisely and sparingly, caffeine can be used to increase productively. If you are like the old me, drinking copious amounts of coffee a day, I would recommend a gradual process to wean off the use of coffee. Even if you are not able to give it up entirely, any amount of reduction may still bring some benefit to your health. It does not have to be an all or nothing situation, as every step you take towards health still counts. 

Check out the services tab to find out more about SHAE app that advises on our nutrition based on the latest research on health or contact me if you are interested in having some coaching to improve health by changing your health behaviour.