So I quite coffee cold turkey as a NYR and after the first two days it was virtually painless.
The coming off phase was marked by tiredness and headaches, but overall my energy levels have improved drastically; by at least 50%, and agitation levels have plummeted. Mornings are far easier and I no longer desire to stay up past midnight.
Concentration during meditation has also improved.
I am not sure why this is exactly, however, I would guess: coffee causes more frequent urination and therefore more of the vitamins and minerals are being drained from the body.
Green tea for me now all day, all the way. That and water.
The best thing is no longer feeling enslaved to an external object and craving it like a junkie for his hit.
Quitting Coffee - my experience
- Manopubbangama
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Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
Congratulations on your change. Except for a couple of periods when I went entirely caffeine-free for several months, I've used caffeine in one form or another nearly all of my life. Currently I've whittled it down to a couple of cups of green tea per day. While these contain caffeine, it's far less than what's found in coffee.
For meditation practice, I find that this amount of green tea is a sweet spot for me. If I go completely caffeine-free (no green tea, no chocolate, etc), focus is more difficult. Whereas if I have too much caffeine, my mind races and more stray images impinge. I guess each of us is the best judge of how much is enough to be able to enter the right mental states. I look forward to the day when my mental focus will be strong with no caffeine whatsoever.
For meditation practice, I find that this amount of green tea is a sweet spot for me. If I go completely caffeine-free (no green tea, no chocolate, etc), focus is more difficult. Whereas if I have too much caffeine, my mind races and more stray images impinge. I guess each of us is the best judge of how much is enough to be able to enter the right mental states. I look forward to the day when my mental focus will be strong with no caffeine whatsoever.
Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
Well done ManoPG. I have never sought & drunk a cup of coffee in my entire life. When I used to work in an office and start work at a later time, those coffee junkies with their trays of coffee in the elevator would amaze me. What a waste of money.
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- Manopubbangama
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Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
Agreed, some studies claim that green tea prolongs life.
Thats not why I drink it.
I drink it because I believe it prolongs meditation.
The worst thing, even worse than coffee, imo, is energy drinks - that stuff should be made illegal, you should see the amount of aggression some body builders get when they chug those things. As I now live in the Slavic countries I see this quite a bit.
- JamesTheGiant
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Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
A bhikkhu lectured me about the evils of coffee once, and how I'd have to give it up to be a monk. He was very serious and forceful about how bad it was for meditation.
And not ten minutes later I saw him sipping on an espresso after lunch. He saw me see him, and was slightly embarrassed.
Ha!
And not ten minutes later I saw him sipping on an espresso after lunch. He saw me see him, and was slightly embarrassed.
Ha!
Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
I don't see anything wrong with a cuppa to perk up the mind on a slow day. We take specific foods for various reasons - some improve our blood circulation, some improve our physical strength, skin health, resistance to disease, immune response and so on. If we don't see a need to cut these out, why should coffee be treated differently?
Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
I can't quit drinking coffee but I prefer drinking tea as I find it healthier. I feel amazed by how you have managed to get rid of it.
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- Manopubbangama
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Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
Ha ha!JamesTheGiant wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:32 pm A bhikkhu lectured me about the evils of coffee once, and how I'd have to give it up to be a monk. He was very serious and forceful about how bad it was for meditation.
And not ten minutes later I saw him sipping on an espresso after lunch. He saw me see him, and was slightly embarrassed.
Ha!
If you didn't take the vow from abstaining from goofy speech, you could have jabbed him with such tongue-in-cheek humor as:
What is the best beetles song?
Latte be.
Words cannot espresso how much your teachings mean to me.
I should be studying to pass the dhammacariya exams but I'm procaffeinating.
Its nothing compared to quitting tobacco. From people I know who did cocaine, they say its equally as strong an addiction.
I feel amazed by how you have managed to get rid of it
Quitting tobacco is different because right now I don't crave coffee at all, yet if someone gave me a moist, handrolled cigarette I would love to puff away at it all day. And I have been tobacco-free for over 6 months. If I walked through a tobacco field and saw old, dried leaves, I would feel compelled to take them and roll them up.
No other substance has the same effect as this that I have experienced.
The next addiction to be liquidated will be wasting time on the internets.
Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
Puérh tea (the real kind, called Sheng Puérh or 生普洱 in Chinese) and High Mountain Oolong (高山茶) are my go to's for caffeine. Metabolized by the body differently than coffee, no real experiences of jitters or anything like that. Wonderful plants!
Green tea can be nice, but be careful of two things:
1) Assuming you're drinking loose tea and not the dust from the factory floor (tea bags), try to rinse the tea quickly as there are a lot of pesticides used in growing green tea in China. Organic tea can be found but it's difficult to navigate the scene and figures out who's honest and who wants your extra dough.
2) Don't drink green tea on an empty stomach. This can be pretty jarring for the body and can cause stomachaches. Pu'erh, Black Tea, or more roasted Oolongs are all fine.
Green tea can be nice, but be careful of two things:
1) Assuming you're drinking loose tea and not the dust from the factory floor (tea bags), try to rinse the tea quickly as there are a lot of pesticides used in growing green tea in China. Organic tea can be found but it's difficult to navigate the scene and figures out who's honest and who wants your extra dough.
2) Don't drink green tea on an empty stomach. This can be pretty jarring for the body and can cause stomachaches. Pu'erh, Black Tea, or more roasted Oolongs are all fine.
Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
Agreed! Pu Erh is wonderful. My son gave me some as a Christmas present, and it's very fine stuff. It can be infused two or three times.
Is the Pu Erh in tea bags always bad? With other teas, the "dust" issue is a bit of an urban myth, based on the fact that "dust" is the smallest grade of leaf size. I've never seen Pu Erh in teabags, though.
Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
The only thing I drink that's "bad" is mineralized gas water. I don't drink tea, juice, soda or anything else. Sometimes in the summer I will cut mint leaves and slice a lemon and make a refreshing flavoured water.
It's amazing how dehydrated you realize you are once you cut out 90% of foods and drinks. Then it's amazing how much better your sleep, concentration and health improves. My need for glasses also started improving from -7.5 to -4 and still improving, turns out my eyes were just too dehydrated.
Caffiene dehydrates, salt dehydrates, sugar dehydrates, carbs dehydrate, co2 (gas in soda) dehydrates, spices dehydrate, too much water dehydrates, too many minerals dehydrate.
Fat hydrates, oxygen hydrates.
The mechanism behind dehydration: deuterium, also corrolated with cancer.
It's interesting how so many people find comforts with their mouth from the day they suck on their mother's nipple. I wonder if Gautama was exposed to early nipple imprinting, since his mother died at birth.
It's amazing how dehydrated you realize you are once you cut out 90% of foods and drinks. Then it's amazing how much better your sleep, concentration and health improves. My need for glasses also started improving from -7.5 to -4 and still improving, turns out my eyes were just too dehydrated.
Caffiene dehydrates, salt dehydrates, sugar dehydrates, carbs dehydrate, co2 (gas in soda) dehydrates, spices dehydrate, too much water dehydrates, too many minerals dehydrate.
Fat hydrates, oxygen hydrates.
The mechanism behind dehydration: deuterium, also corrolated with cancer.
It's interesting how so many people find comforts with their mouth from the day they suck on their mother's nipple. I wonder if Gautama was exposed to early nipple imprinting, since his mother died at birth.
Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
Sam Vara wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 7:43 amAgreed! Pu Erh is wonderful. My son gave me some as a Christmas present, and it's very fine stuff. It can be infused two or three times.
Is the Pu Erh in tea bags always bad? With other teas, the "dust" issue is a bit of an urban myth, based on the fact that "dust" is the smallest grade of leaf size. I've never seen Pu Erh in teabags, though.
Dust isn't so much the issue, but the less broken up the leaves are, the better. At the end of the day I'd just suggest doing a small bit of research and buying a few cakes, as they are quite healthy, pretty low in caffeine, and will last you a long time even if you drink them daily.
Living here in Taiwan has given me pretty great access to these, though Yunnan Sourcing and a few other websites sell decent sheng for the price within north America.
Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
I realized I've been dehydrated all my life once I was hooked up to a drip of hydrating fluids in the hospital due to dehydration from being sick with food poisining in Nepal.budo wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 8:09 am The only thing I drink that's "bad" is mineralized gas water. I don't drink tea, juice, soda or anything else. Sometimes in the summer I will cut mint leaves and slice a lemon and make a refreshing flavoured water.
It's amazing how dehydrated you realize you are once you cut out 90% of foods and drinks. Then it's amazing how much better your sleep, concentration and health improves. My need for glasses also started improving from -7.5 to -4 and still improving, turns out my eyes were just too dehydrated.
Caffiene dehydrates, salt dehydrates, sugar dehydrates, carbs dehydrate, co2 (gas in soda) dehydrates, spices dehydrate, too much water dehydrates, too many minerals dehydrate.
Fat hydrates, oxygen hydrates.
The mechanism behind dehydration: deuterium, also corrolated with cancer.
It's interesting how so many people find comforts with their mouth from the day they suck on their mother's nipple. I wonder if Gautama was exposed to early nipple imprinting, since his mother died at birth.
That stuff really makes you feel goood
Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
Many thanks, B!Benjamin wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 2:36 pm Dust isn't so much the issue, but the less broken up the leaves are, the better. At the end of the day I'd just suggest doing a small bit of research and buying a few cakes, as they are quite healthy, pretty low in caffeine, and will last you a long time even if you drink them daily.
Living here in Taiwan has given me pretty great access to these, though Yunnan Sourcing and a few other websites sell decent sheng for the price within north America.
Re: Quitting Coffee - my experience
Same for me with the saline drip. Most people are dehydrated, that's why everyone in the ER automatically get an IV saline drip, it's interesting how fast people bounce back with energy. You literally have to pee every 3-4 hours.
Also when you're in ketosis it's hard to get dehydrated as your body starts making deuterium free water.