Cover Photo by Alexander Jawfox on Unsplash (adapted)
Don’t worry, you can get it back
You just woke up. What are the first things you do within the first 30 minutes of waking up?
If you’re like me, you prepare coffee first thing in the morning. I don’t even take time to go to the bathroom first, I reach straight for the kettle to boil water.
I know I’m not alone doing that. If you’re like many professionals in America or Europe, you start by drinking coffee or a caffeine-infused beverage. Is this a good habit to have? Does it really make you more focused?
Yes, momentarily. However, the answer is a lot more complex than that.
It turns out, over time, caffeine is reducing your baseline level of energy. This is a huge finding! The first few times you took coffee, you got extra energy above your regular baseline. As you kept drinking coffee, your baseline started to shrink. Note, however, that according to some studies, this rule doesn’t apply the same way for people suffering from ADHD.
This illustration shows the long-term effects of caffeine:
Copyright: Ari Whitten — The Energy Blueprint System
Essentially, a habitual caffeine taker has the same energy level as someone who doesn’t drink coffee, but only when they drink coffee! If you ever wondered why someone who never drinks coffee has as much energy as you do when drinking coffee, that’s why.
Ari Whitten Ph.D. (Cand.) goes into greater detail in his research about the effects of caffeine on your body. Here’s a passage from one of his articles I find very conclusive:
The person who consumes caffeine every day feels fatigued which results in a lower baseline energy level, and mood, and performance level. They’re stuck in a cycle of terrible energy and performance without caffeine, and then depending on caffeine to get back up to normal function. Then, after the caffeine wears off, their energy comes crashing right back down to their new lower baseline level of energy, mood, and performance.
Yikes! This is what most coffee drinkers and caffeine consumers do not realize about the boost that they are getting. They do not realize that it is just taking them back up to normal, not actually giving them a boost.
How to reclaim your natural energy levels
The good news is, all is not lost, my friend! You can get your baseline back up. The way to get it back is painful, but it’s working. I know because I’ve experienced it myself.
To get your baseline back, you need to do a caffeine detox. It’s that “simple”.
What is a caffeine detox?
It simply means that you need to avoid all traces of caffeine for a certain period. No cheating allowed!
When I did my first detox, I was in living in Colombia, of all places. Can you imagine living in coffee land and not having any coffee? It was quite painful to be surrounded by such wonderful smells and resisting taking it. In the end, the extra challenge made me even more proud of myself.
What should I avoid?
High caffeine foods and drinks include chocolate-covered coffee beans, coffee, energy drinks, espresso, sodas, green tea, black tea, dark chocolate, coffee liqueur, and baked goods containing chocolate.
Source: Top 10 Foods and Drinks High in Caffeine (MyFoodData.com)
The only two things from the above list I consumed were coffee and dark chocolate. Cutting dark chocolate wasn’t that hard for me, but coffee was. And unsurprisingly, coffee has one of the highest amounts of caffeine per gram.
How long does it take?
I couldn’t verify that one, but my guess is that the more you consume daily or weekly, the longer it takes.
When I did my first detox, I had been consuming one large coffee cup daily, in the morning only. I had been doing that for many years. It took me about a month to get back to my baseline.
What are the (temporary) side effects of a coffee detox?
The most common ones are headaches, fatigue, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, depressed mood, irritability, tremors, and (oops) low energy. All of these go away after some time.
Source: 8 Symptoms of Caffeine Withdrawal (healthline.com)
From the above list, I felt headaches, fatigue, difficulty concentrating and low energy during the first week. Headaches started going away after, followed by fatigue, difficulty, and low energy last. It wasn’t a pleasant experience at first, but hey, it needed to be done. No detox is ever fun at first!
How do you know when you’re back to your baseline?
This may sound overly simplistic, but you’ll feel it. You’ll feel that your energy levels are higher, up to at least as much as when you used to drink coffee.
It really is a great feeling. I started falling asleep easier. At the time, I was waking up at 4 am, and it began to be much easier. My energy levels were through the roof in the morning. And it was the same after a nap in the afternoon. That made me wish my baseline never dropped in the first place!
What to do after a coffee detox?
You don’t want all that effort to go to waste, right? I found that if I used caffeine only for when I needed it, my baseline didn’t drop. But to give a number, for me, it was around two cups per week. It will require experimentation from you, however, as everyone’s background is different.
Summary
If you feel like you’re energy levels are low during the day and you having caffeine is habitual for you, it might be time for a caffeine detox. Essentially, you cut out all sources of caffeine until you have the same level of energy as shortly after having caffeine. It will be painful to start with, but if you push through, you’ll be rewarded with more consistent energy without the need for stimulants.
If I was able to do it while living in coffee land, so can you!
— Danny