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Risk

by Brent Mcgregor

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When I did drink coffee, I noticed that my joints were always sore. My knees and shoulders fared the worse. My overall energy was lower. My blood sugar level was inconsistent as well.
Although these are personal observations there are plenty of professional medical papers that will back up the general malaise that I used to feel after the two cups in the morning.

Let's not even start with the insomnia.

However, there are always two ends to each stick. Coffee is equally praised and even worshiped in some quarters of our human experience. The stimulating effect of caffeine is on its face desirable. But, like most drugs, the effects are mostly apprehended as beneficial while the results of things done under caffeines influence are less than optimal.

Remember the spiderweb test that everyone read in high school biology? The first photo was a normal spiderweb that was well spaced and even. The second was a photo of that same spider's work after being dosed with caffeine. This one was a total mess. The web had no continuity at all.

That was how I felt after my morning fix. I was energized and able to tackle several things at once, but nothing was focused. Energy without focus, is the best way to describe caffeines effect upon me. Memory and concentration went way down as well.

I remember reading a journal article in the Lancet that described a man in England who drank three to four pots of tea a day. He was suffering from extreme weakness and malaise to the point that he thought he was having a heart attack one day. The doctor had him stop all caffeine use and his recovery was almost immediate.

Granted, it takes about two weeks for the headaches to go away and normal sleep patterns to reestablish themselves, but I felt better into the second day. The most difficult part of kicking the caffeine habit is the psychological addictions.

We are full sensory people. We see, hear, smell, taste, and feel the world around us. Our emotions filter virtually everything we experience. Who cannot recall a flood of pleasant memories related to calm relaxed mornings and hot cup of coffee every time you walk past a coffee shop. Our physiological and psychological experiences are always reinforcing each other. Advertising take full advantage of our inability to orchestrate this duality of body and spirit by flooding our senses with as much stimulus as possible, and coffee is made to order.

Tips on kicking coffee. First, replace your morning ritual with something that is pleasing to both body and spirit. I chose going to the gym before work. Second, find a cool looking new cup and hide all your old cups. Use that cup only for juice, water, or some protein drink. Third, Make friends with that cup and see that you create feelings of comfort when using it.

Trust me! It may sound nutty, but if you can first satisfy the emotional cravings (yes, I'm a guy and its possible), then the physical stuff is cake. We were given souls to enjoy everything in life in ways that are difficult to fully comprehend. Sadly, we often misuse our enjoyments and therefore diminish them. That is why I kicked coffee. So that I could enjoy life more fully. Sounds odd, buy you can test what I've said for yourself. What have you got to loose?

Learn more about this author, Brent Mcgregor.

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