American’s Biggest Addiction: How to Kick the Coffee Habit
October 22nd, 2007 Posted in Health
Do you drink more than 3-4 cups of coffee each day? If not, you’d actually be in the minority in the U.S. Starbucks loves you, but your doctor may not. There are health risks that come along with that caffeine buzz, so we’re offering some suggestions to lessen the need for so many cups of joe.
This episode was inspired by Steve Pavlina’s great post on How to Give Up Coffee.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Today’s topic is coffee addiction. In case you haven’t noticed, Americans love coffee. A totally made up FDA report released exclusively to Daily Idea estimated every American home will contain its own Starbucks by the year 2012.
With the help of Google, Daily Idea obtained a CBS News transcript about coffee. The report noted after oil, coffee is the second most valuable commodity in the world and that more than 50 percent of Americans drink three to four cups of coffee every day!
Of course, coffee by itself isn’t so bad. It’s the caffeine. The findings from a variety of studies about the merits of coffee and caffeine are mixed. On the downside, research shows excessive caffeine can raise blood pressure enough to increase risk of heart attack or stroke twenty to thirty percent. That has some people looking for help kicking that coffee habit. We’re here to help with two replacement solutions.
If you’re used to starting your day with a cup of joe, start by admitting why you drink coffee in the first place. If you like the taste, there’s half caffeinated and decaf. For most people, though, the coffee is just a delivery system for that caffeine pick-me-up. You’re one of those people aren’t you? C’mon, it’s ok to admit it. We’re all friends here.
If you need that caffeine buzz, it’s possible to ween yourself off the good stuff. You can start by slowly switching from coffee to tea. You can try green tea or Earl Grey. Reduce your coffee intake by a cup a day over the first month and replace it with a cup of tea. Eliminate another cup the following month and phase in another cup of tea. Before you know it, you’ll be able to trade most of your coffee for less caffeinated tea. In a perfect would, you’d trade your caffeinated tea for just good ol’ H two O, but hey, we’re not here to work miracles.
If tea’s not your thing, you can try grain coffee, which really isn’t a coffee at all. It’s a ground mixture of grains, nuts, dried fruit, and some natural flavors. You can brew it in your regular coffee maker and make something that approaches the look and taste of coffee. Grain coffee is naturally caffeine-free and comes in a million different flavors. So if you’re not a fan of tea you can gradually phase grain coffee into your daily routine by mixing it in with your normal brew. You can buy grain coffee at just about any health food store.
The idea is to gradually reduce your caffeine intake, especially if you’re a heavy coffee drinker. No one will want to be around you if you should decide to go cold turkey. You’ll be crabby and you’ll probably end up with headaches and that uneasy, jittery feeling. That won’t be good for anybody. So, give one of these ideas a try and let’s grab a cup of coffee in a few months to discuss your progress.
And that’s another daily idea.
One Response to “American’s Biggest Addiction: How to Kick the Coffee Habit”
By Chris LaBossiere on Oct 23, 2007
Nikki:
I am both addicted to coffee, and your pretty face…BUT, I tried to subscribe to your feed, and it didn’t work. I use MyYahoo, and the Feedburner feed URL didn’t work.
You might want to look into that, and keep up the good work.
Cheers!