Anyone who has ever talked to me, or possibly has just seen me around, knows that I am addicted to caffeine. I start off every morning with 32 oz of coffee that I take to class in a Maryland Tervis. When I get back from class I have another cup of coffee. But at night I do my best to cut back on the caffeine and stop drinking coffee. Instead I drink two to three cups of coffee. Usually at least one of these is Earl Grey.
My friends and family often worry if I am going to have a heart attack because of the amount of coffee I consume and I often get caffeine withdrawal headaches. Needless to say, I have somewhat of a problem.
Back in November, my friend got really into health kicks and gave up caffeine for a week. Afterward, she told me she never felt better and recommended I try it. I was a bit skeptical and decided to research it a little bit more.
Without a logical reason to not give it a shot, I decided to give up my caffeine.
Since I wanted to pass my classes, I decided to try this over winter break. The goal was to go the entire break without any caffeine. If I did feel better afterwards, I would try to give it up completely.
Almost as soon as my challenge started I realized that it was going to be more difficult than I imagined. Caffeine was everywhere! My parents made a pot of coffee every morning and usually I would have a cup as I read the paper.
I had to switch this to a glass of water.
Usually, my friends and I go to brunch and coffee shops, I had to stay away.
And then if I somehow could avoid coffee altogether, I also forgot that giving up caffeine also meant giving up tea. This was harder than coffee in someways because I trained my body to react to different teas.
The first few days were hell. I had to figure out how to avoid temptation, how to manage my headaches, and learn to stay awake without caffeine.
The side effects eventually went away and I waited for the bursts of energy and clear skin to come. I waited a week. I waited a second week. By the time I started packing for school, I gave up.
Giving up caffeine is not a magical remedy to feeling better. I felt the exact same as I did before the experiment and had to get through hell to get to that point.
As I write this article now, I am drinking a cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and feel fine. Giving up caffeine taught me some perseverance, how to avoid temptation, and what a hoax the ill effects of caffeine are. I don't care how many studies show that caffeine is bad for you, I noticed no difference when I got rid of it.
Giving up caffeine didn't make me feel better, it just ruined my break. If it taught me any valuable lessons, it's to not trust fads you see on the Internet.
