How to Start Your Day Without Caffeine
By Sara Butler
Many people can’t get their morning going without a steaming cup of coffee. That’s not wrong really, but using coffee to keep you going after a tough night’s sleep only leads to bigger problems. If you’ve been having trouble sleeping and feel like you’re counting on coffee a little too much, here are some ways to get your day going without it – and it may just lead to better sleep at night for you!
Reducing Dependence
Caffeine withdrawal is a real thing. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 43 percent of Americans use caffeine to keep them going throughout the day. It can be painful to go cold turkey when it comes to caffeine, so you should really try to take baby steps to wean away from dependence. You should:
- Drink less of it – It’s just that simple. Instead of three cups of coffee each morning, have just two. When you get used to that, cut down to one and then maybe you’ll need none!
- Improve your sleep quality – Make sure you’re getting seven to eight hours of quality sleep per night. If you can do that, then you may find that you don’t need caffeine to get going in the morning.
How to Ease Withdrawal
Cutting down on caffeine is a scary prospect because the symptoms of withdrawal can be difficult to deal with. To avoid them, you should try to cut down on caffeine through:
- Understand ingredients – Look at the nutritional information on food and drink packaging so you don’t accidentally have caffeine when you don’t want it.
- Go gradual – Cold turkey quitting will just be painful, so instead, you should have a plan of attack to quit caffeine (or reduce it significantly). Try reducing about a third of your caffeine consumption every three days. Then you can cut down on the chance you’ll have the symptoms of headaches, jitteriness, irritability, and nausea.
- Water it down – When you do have drinks with caffeine, try adding some water to them. That way you get the taste without all the caffeine.
- Switch to decaf – Decaf still has some caffeine, so you can switch to that. Or you can just go crazy with water and fruit juice!
- Try new things – Instead of coffee in the morning, try tea. Green tea is especially good for you.
You don’t have to use caffeine to get through your day. In fact, if you can cut back or eliminate it, you may just find that you get better quality sleep and don’t need it!
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic.