cheryl
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Staff member
Are You Overdosing on Caffeine? - Outside Online
Signs that your coffee habit is doing more harm than good
When I gave up caffeine, the first day was like a scene out of Trainspotting. Picture a grown man balled up on the couch, sweating in November, on the cusp of vomiting, head split right in two. Then a low-grade headache that lasted for a week set in. But I was also sleeping sounder and longer, and, despite a few mornings with a serious coffee craving, I felt better. I didn’t have as much of an afternoon slump, and I was less irritable—I was using my car horn less, and I didn’t feel as annoyed by things not going exactly how I planned. Within a few weeks, I’d lost four pounds. I’ve been off the stuff ever since.
Caffeine can indeed be a great thing, but it can also work against you. Your experience with the drug depends on your biology and how much of it you take in. Before I decided to give up caffeine for good, I was drinking upward of three cups a day. But conversations with people much smarter than myself—biochemists, nutritionists, sleep experts, neurologists—led to me to believe that I was overdoing it at a rate that was bad for my health, sleep, disposition, and performance.
Signs that your coffee habit is doing more harm than good
When I gave up caffeine, the first day was like a scene out of Trainspotting. Picture a grown man balled up on the couch, sweating in November, on the cusp of vomiting, head split right in two. Then a low-grade headache that lasted for a week set in. But I was also sleeping sounder and longer, and, despite a few mornings with a serious coffee craving, I felt better. I didn’t have as much of an afternoon slump, and I was less irritable—I was using my car horn less, and I didn’t feel as annoyed by things not going exactly how I planned. Within a few weeks, I’d lost four pounds. I’ve been off the stuff ever since.
Caffeine can indeed be a great thing, but it can also work against you. Your experience with the drug depends on your biology and how much of it you take in. Before I decided to give up caffeine for good, I was drinking upward of three cups a day. But conversations with people much smarter than myself—biochemists, nutritionists, sleep experts, neurologists—led to me to believe that I was overdoing it at a rate that was bad for my health, sleep, disposition, and performance.