by Kat Apf

Created on: January 10, 2013

For a variety of reasons, many people decide to cut back on caffeine. Whatever your reasons are it can be a nightmare for some people, while others can drop caffeine and not even notice.  If you fall into the nightmare category, here are a few easy tips and tricks to help you out.

Cut back or cut out?

You first need to decide if you want to cut out caffeine totally or just ease off a bit.  This will determine how you do it.  If you're going for no caffeine at all, you'll probably want to go slower.  If you think you only want to end up drinking one cup of something caffeinated a day, you might want to go a little faster. 

Check the labels

Many people consume drinks with caffeine and don't even know it.  Many sodas one would think are caffeine free are not.  There are a few brands of root beer and orange soda that contain caffeine.  Make sure you read the labels on the drinks you have daily.

Half and half

Going cold turkey is probably not a good idea.  So, begin cutting back by switch to a mixture of half caffeinated and half decaf. As the days go by, you can gradually include more decaf and less caffeine to get you to your goal. Before you know it, you'll have cut back and hopefully, without much pain. 

Another method

Dropping a cup every day or every other day, is another way to get off caffeine.  So, if you drink four cups of a coffee a day, the first day, drink three cups, the second day, drop down to two cups a day. Keep that up until you're down to one cup a day or none.

Hydrate

Make sure you're drinking plenty of water while you're cutting back on the caffeine.  Water is essential to good health whether or not you're trying to kick the coffee/caffeine habit.  So make sure you're sipping plenty of water while you go through the process.  This will help with withdrawal headaches.

Eat healthy

Eating healthy and balanced meals while you're breaking the caffeine habit will also help you through the process.  Make sure you're getting enough of all the essential nutrients that anyone should have by eating lots of fruits and veggies.  Trying to cut back on affine and not eating right might lead to more headaches and a rough time so make sure you're eating right.

Dropping caffeine can be a good start to getting healthy.  Just take it slowly and before you know it, caffeine will be a thing of the past. 

Learn more about this author, Kat Apf.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.