What are the benefits of being caffeine free?

Answer 1

1. Break the Addiction

In most people caffeine is an addictive substance to some degree, although some would describe it as highly addictive.

Depending on a substance to function normally or even stay awake, can become a vicious cycle. It changes our brain's chemistry resulting in the need for more of the substance to achieve the desired results.

Quitting caffeine or coffee breaks the cycle and frees us from needing a daily drug to function normally.

2. Financial Savings

The cost of a caffeine addiction can add up and thousands of dollars a year could be saved if you quit.

3. Lower Blood Pressure

Caffeine can raise your blood pressure a few points and even more in some people.1

Quitting coffee or caffeine can lower your blood pressure and keep your heart from working as hard.

4. Better Sleep

Caffeine can greatly reduce the amount and quality of sleep.2 Drinking coffee or energy drinks too late in the day can interfere with getting to sleep since the half-life of caffeine is 4-6 hours.

Even people who have no caffeine after 12 noon report a better quality of sleep after quitting caffeine.

5. Better Mood

Caffeine alters the mood. Many report being grumpy until they've had their morning coffee and others feel lethargic when the caffeine begins to wear off in the afternoon.

Quitting can even out the ups and downs.

6. Decreased Anxiety

Many people report that caffeine increases their anxiety levels. This has to do with how caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands.3

Quitting coffee or caffeine can make you feel less anxious, especially if you are prone to anxiety issues.

7. Fewer Headaches

Caffeine is a major trigger for headaches. Any alteration in your normal daily caffeine consumption can result in a caffeine withdrawal headache.

Caffeine can also be a migraine trigger.

8. Convenience

• Imagine never having to stop at Starbucks on the way to work?
• Imagine never having to stop by the convenience store for a Red Bull?
• Imagine erasing making coffee from your morning routine?
• Imagine a backpacking trip without packing caffeine pills or the extra weight of coffee making equipment? 9. Fewer Trips to the Bathroom

  Caffeinated beverages cause us to urinate more often and in some people even can cause incontinence.

  Caffeine also stimulates the smooth muscles of the colon, which cause them to contract.

  This can be challenging during meetings, road trips, or when bathrooms aren't convenient.

  Quitting can reduce the need to use the bathroom as often, especially in the mornings.

  10. Healthier Teeth

  Coffee and tea stain teeth and acidic & sweet energy drinks or sodas erode tooth enamel and can cause tooth decay.

  Eliminating these beverages results in whiter and healthier teeth.

  11. Weight Loss

  Unless you drink your coffee black. Caffeinated beverages generally add empty calories to our diets that we don't really need.

  Many experts say that sugary beverages are a huge component of the obesity epidemic plaguing the western world.4

  A study from Victoria University found that when caffeine is in a sugary beverage it causes people to consumed more of that sugary beverage compared to a sugary beverage without caffeine.5

  • Quitting just a one Monster Energy Drink/day habit saves 200 calories per day, 1,400 calories a week, or 73,000 calories a year!
  • Quitting just 1 Starbucks Vanilla Latte/day saves 250 calories per day, 1,750 calories a week, or 91,250 calories a year!
  • Quitting a 16 fl.oz. Coke/day habit saves 239 calories a day, 1,673 calories a week, or 87,235 calories a year! 12. Healthier Diet

    Bottled coffees, teas, energy drinks, and sodas often contain an assortment of preservatives designed to give them a longer shelf-life.

    These preservatives can have adverse health effects and some are even banned by other countries.

    Sugar-free energy drinks and sodas contain artificial sweeteners that also can negatively affect your health.

    Cutting these out of your diet can be beneficial to your overall long-term good health.

    13. Cleaner Environment

    Caffeine addiction places a tremendous strain on our Natural Resources. Think of the number of plastic bottles, cans, and cups that have to be produced in order to meet the demand.

    "Americans discard about 33.6 million tons of plastic each year, but only 6.5 percent of it is recycled and 7.7 percent is combusted in waste-to-energy facilities, which create electricity or heat from garbage. The rest ends up in landfills where it may take up to 1,000 years to decompose.." - State of The Planet

    Also, caffeine has been showing up in municipal water supplies because of all the discarded coffee grounds.

    Quitting caffeine reduces your environmental footprint.

    14. Caffeine Will Work Again

    Consuming caffeine daily quickly causes the human body to build up tolerance. The same dose of caffeine then causes a person to achieve a sense of normal rather than the euphoric feelings it once did.

    Quitting resets your body's caffeine tolerance, allowing it to work really well on the occasions you really need it to.

    15. Possible Drug Interactions

    Caffeine can interact with other medications causing them to not work as they should.

    Giving up caffeine eliminates this risk.

    16. No More Jitters

    One of the leading side-effects from caffeine or coffee consumption is jitters or shaky hands. This can range from annoying to even debilitating for some people.

    Quitting can give you your steady hands back.

    17. Less Risk of Cardiac Events

    Caffeine stimulates the heart muscle causing it to beat with more forceful contractions.

    While this isn't problematic for most people, those with underlying heart conditions can be at risk. People can be unaware that they even have a heart disorder until they begin to consume caffeine and the damage is done.

    18. Increased Productivity

    What would you do with an extra hour every day?Those addicted to caffeine can easily waste an hour standing in line at the coffee shop, making trips to the break room talking to coworkers along the way, and stopping at convenience stores.

    The time saved could be used for an extra hour of sleep instead!

    19. Reduced Type 2 Diabetes Risk

    While black coffee actually has been shown to reduce diabetes risk, drinking sugary coffee and caffeinated beverages actually increases your risk of Diabetes.

    "People who consume sugary drinks regularly-1 to 2 cans a day or more-have a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes" -Harvard School of Public Health6

    20. Better Health

    Many research studies point to the health benefits of coffee and tea because of their antioxidant properties. However, this isn't true for all caffeinated beverages.

    Soda, energy drinks, and processed coffee and tea products most likely have a negative impact on your long-term health.

    People who drink mainly water report more natural energy, better overall feelings of wellness, better sleep, and healthier skin.