How to stop drinking so much coffee: 4 effective tips

Coffee can become an addiction that leads us to drink a lot of it every day.

Coffee by itself does not usually cause damage to health, even if consumed moderately it has benefits such as keeping us alert, improving physical performance, and provides some essential nutrients such as riboflavin, pantothenic acid, magnesium and niacin among others.

On the contrary, an excessive consumption of coffee can cause serious damage to our health. Drinking more than three cups a day begins to be considered out of the recommended intake. For this reason, many people would like to eliminate its consumption and begin to ask themselves how to stop consuming so much coffee. Let's see several tips.

4 tips to stop consuming so much coffee

Caffeine can be addictive, not only because of the sensation it provides by supplying energy, but also because in high and prolonged consumption, the body becomes accustomed to its habitual doses of coffee.. For this reason, eliminating its consumption can produce withdrawal symptoms.

So, let's see how to stop drinking so much coffee on a daily basis.

1. Make the decision and set a goal

Drinking more than three cups a day is already starting to be a warning to consider stopping coffee consumption. Theoretically we shouldn't consume more than 300 milligramsTherefore, if your consumption is equal or higher and you are beginning to consider stopping coffee consumption, it is important to make the decision to start a plan and follow it until you have achieved it.

It is important to understand that one objective can be to stop consuming so much coffee, that is to say to minimize it, and another can be to eliminate coffee consumption completely. That is why it is necessary to think about what we want in order to set a plan of action.

It may be that if the consumption of cups of coffee exceeds 4 cups a day, a goal is to reduce it to two cups. Or if the objective is to eliminate it completely, it is recommendable to to have a real and achievable goal about the time in which we expect to be able to achieve it.. A realistic time frame could be between 3 to 5 months depending on the amounts that are currently being consumed.

This step to stop drinking so much coffee, is the first one that we must have very clear to then start planning the following suggestion to eliminate or reduce the excessive consumption of this beverage.

2. Gradually decrease the number of cups per day.

To stop drinking coffee brings with it a small inconvenience that must be solved: there is a withdrawal syndrome. Headache, fatigue, anxiety and drowsiness are the most frequent symptoms when eliminating its consumption.

For this reason, to stop drinking coffee should be a gradual objective in proportion to the amount of coffee currently consumed and the amount of coffee and the amount that we want to reach.

The exercise can be that if you currently consume 5 cups a day, start by drinking 4 cups during 3 or 4 weeks, then reduce to 3 cups during 3 or weeks and so on until you reach your goal or no cup of coffee a day.

In this way, the caffeine that our body assimilates will be reduced little by little, decreasing the reducing the abstinence syndrome or even helping not to feel it. If the high intake of coffee per day has been carried out for a prolonged period of time, then the body is already accustomed to caffeine, and between each cup of coffee there has not been a proper process of the organism to eliminate it from the body, which means that it has not been functioning without caffeine for a long time.

If the consumption is decreased gradually, the body will not suddenly resent this caffeine drop and after a while the body will have become accustomed to being without caffeine.

After having made a plan of action and reducing the consumption gradually, to stop drinking so much coffee will be easier than it may seem at first.

3. Substitute coffee

When the consumption of caffeine is high, a good way to achieve a gradual decrease in the number of coffee intakes per day is to replace it with a tea that contains caffeine. substitute it with a tea that contains caffeine and alternate it with one that does not contain caffeine..

Black or green tea contains caffeine so they could be taken in the morning to replace coffee. Being hot and containing caffeine, they could help to receive the same feeling of energy that a cup of coffee provides. The following drinks can be replaced by a caffeine-free tea such as chamomile tea, or perhaps an orange blossom or relaxing Herbal tea to help reduce withdrawal symptoms.

A bitter chocolate or cola are also good choices for substitution. A cola has less caffeine than a cup of coffee, so it can be a great help to stop drinking so much coffee throughout the day.

4. Doing relaxing activities

Once we have started with the plan to stop drinking coffee and we begin to feel the first symptoms of abstinence, we can resort to exercises or activities that allow us to keep us at peace and that serve as a palliative for that serve as a palliative so as not to relapse..

Walking, swimming, yoga, tai chi or meditation, are some of the activities that can help perfectly well because in addition to helping to release toxins also serve to become aware of our body and the importance of their health and the benefits of leaving behind a habit that hurts us.

Meditation also works to alleviate the anguish caused by giving up an addictive substance. caused by quitting an addictive substance and with symptoms such as headache or drowsiness.

Bibliographical references:

• Waller, J. M.; Bigger, M.; Hillocks, R. J. (2007). Coffee Pests, Diseases and Their Management. CABI.
• Escobar, Germán. (2009). Shading in coffee plantations: a system, a strategy for food security.