If you usually drink a lot of coffee and want to completely reduce it until you eliminate it from your day-to-day life, we will discover some useful tips to reduce your coffee consumption easily.
Contrary to what many people actually think, the truth is that coffee is not a bad drink for health, as long as, of course, it is always taken in its proper measure. Or, what is the same, as long as it is not taken in excess. To get an idea of where this excess is or is not, it is very useful to try to discover how much coffee can be drunk per day without actually becoming a risk to our health.
But be careful, given that this amount actually depends on each person, since what a mere cup of coffee means for one, it can become a real problem for another, something that depends almost directly on the tolerance that each which we have to caffeine (yes, there are people who tend to be more sensitive than others to its effects on the body).
With regard to the different and different benefits that coffee brings us, we find that it becomes an extremely stimulating drink, which stimulates the central nervous system and tends to keep us alert, awake. That is why it is such a popular drink at those times when we need to stay awake and cannot fall asleep (for example, during a night of study or work). It is useful, in fact, to improve our concentration for longer while reducing drowsiness.
But its qualities do not end here, since did you know that it is a tremendously rich drink in antioxidants? Coffee provides a good amount of polyphenols, useful for reducing the very negative effects that free radicals have on our body, protecting us against diseases in which the oxidative stress of cells is involved (as is the case of diseases neurodegenerative or cardiovascular
It is also useful for preventing diabetes mellitus (also known medically as type 2 diabetes or adult-onset diabetes), especially when drinking between 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day and its consumption is prolonged over time, by helping to prevent insulin resistance and improve metabolic control of glucose.
Dependence on coffee
But as negative effects, we are faced with a drink that generates dependency in our body (not addiction, which by the way is totally and completely different things).
In fact, if we are used to drinking coffee regularly and stop drinking, what many experts call caffeine withdrawal syndrome appears, which occurs when, after regular daily coffee consumption, our body needs more amounts of caffeine to achieve the same effect, and yet we have “eliminated” its consumption completely.
What are the most common symptoms? Irritability, moodiness, headache, fatigue, sleepiness, difficulty concentrating or working properly, impaired cognitive performance, depression, and anxiety.
How to drink less coffee every day:
Gradually reduce coffee consumption
If your body is used to receiving a good dose of coffee every day (from morning to afternoon, or even just in the morning with breakfast), it is evident that it is not at all advisable to try to cut consumption so drastically of a drink whose stimulating effects on the body end up causing dependency.
Why? Fundamentally because if yesterday we had a large cup of coffee, and today we have decided to leave it, the most common thing is that the symptoms that we have mentioned in passing in the previous lines arise.
Therefore, in the first place, the key is to try to reduce the amount of coffee we drink each day. Or, what is the same, to drink fewer cups of coffee every day.
Let’s take an example. You usually tend to drink 3 cups of coffee a day: one with breakfast, one mid-morning, and one after lunch. If you have considered the possibility of reducing the coffee you consume, a useful option is to try during the first week to eliminate the coffee at lunch, opting only for the one you drink at breakfast and mid-morning.
Then, in the following week, eliminate the cup of coffee that you drink in the middle of the morning. And the following week do the same with the breakfast cup. But on this occasion it is best to try to reduce the amount of coffee you drink at that time on those days, for example by reducing the size of the cup or the amount you serve yourself.
Opting for coffee substitutes
Did you know that there are different alternatives to coffee, in most cases much more suitable and healthier than this one? The most popular and recommended are the following:
- Chicory: it is a plant that, made in the form of a drink, provides an intense flavor and a somewhat lighter appearance.
- Kola: is a plant whose infusion helps reduce fatigue, fight tiredness and stimulate the nervous system.
- Mace: popularly known by the name of Andeanmace, it is an excellent option when it comes to increasing the energy of our body.
- White coffee: this is a drink of Lebanese origin that, although it is made with coffee, is less strong, especially as a greater amount of water and a few drops of orange blossom are added.
And finally, we could not forget the popular cereal drinks, which you can easily find on the market and which are made with different cereals (for example malt, barley and chicory), being good substitutes for coffee.
