How To Break Your Daily Caffeine Habit And Use Coffee Strategically

I've had a lot of success at slowly phasing sugar out. I spent a while consciously trying to put less into my coffees (it was a struggle sometimes), and now I drink it without suger.

Likewise I mix my on soft-drinks from cordial + soda water (seltzer) and i've scaled it back to the point where I often prefer the water plain.

The great thing about it is I use the sugar as a hit for its own sake now if I'm feeling tired/whatever. It doesn't last long, but it can be a great way to get yourself going.

I have been off caffeine for 6 or so months now. I stopped cold-turkey before and went a whole year before joining my new job and free soda was too big to pass up.

I have found that being with caffeine has actually helped me tremendously, I don't feel jittery anymore, I am more alert, I am able to stay awake longer (that one was weird to me as well), I was less likely to feel mentally tired at the end of the day, and my sleep has never been better (although I still have a delayed sleep phase ... luckily my work lets me work on my own terms =))

I also kicked the soda habit, about 3 months after I kicked the caffeine habit, and it has also changed me. I drink a LOT of water now, and overall don't mind the taste. I stay away from most everything that contains high fructose corn syrup, and have found that I have less energy dips throughout my day, and since I can keep my blood sugar pretty constant throughout the day I don't have any major dips where I feel like I am crashing.

I used to be at the point where I would roll out of bed, drink a liter of Mountain Dew, then half a pot of coffee when I got to work, and at least another can or two of coke or something along those lines before lunch to try to kick-start my day. At some point I figured that I was dependent on caffeine much like a drug addict and that I did not like the fact that a chemical I was knowingly putting into my body was directing how I lived my life and what I bought for food.

Genotype & Coffee:

“Coffee, I Must Have Coffee…”

http://spittoon.23andme.com/2011/04/18/coffee-i-must-have-co...

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"Caffeine Consumption "

https://www.23andme.com/health/caffeine-consumption/

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"Caffeine Metabolism"

https://www.23andme.com/health/Caffeine-Metabolism/

"Some people get jumpy after drinking a single cup of coffee, while others can gulp down a Venti Americano without feeling a thing. Part of that variability is due to the development of tolerance by regular coffee drinkers; but there are genetic differences in how people metabolize caffeine as well."

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http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Caffeine

I'd imagine it's used by migrant/long-hours workers because it's relatively cheap (for the given effect), and quite readily available.

It's even licenced by the FDA for certain conditions such as ADHD, and exogenous obesity[1].

I believe (although I can't find a direct citation to justify it at the moment) that it's considered to be more damaging than other amphetamines (both psychologically "meth psychosis", and physically (cardiovascular stress).

There are a number of drugs with similar(ish) properties, although some of them are either illegal, or prescription only. Off the top of my head, there's Provigil (modafinil)[2], Khat (cathinone)[3], Coca leaves[4], and the various other non-caffeine forms of the xanthines (Yerba mate, Cocoa)[5].

In addition to those, there's the whole class of the stimulant Phenethylamines, (of which the * -amphetamines are a subset) although some of them have hallucinogenic effects which would limit their use as a performance enhancer.

The only one I would outright demonise is Methamphetamine, not necessarily purely due to the potential side effects, but due to the relative ease of (very poor quality) manufacture. This leads to a whole bunch of really nasty reaction side-products, on top of whatever cutting agents the distribution chain has added to maximise profits.

In any of these discussions, it's considered traditional to present Paul Erdős[6] as an example of productive amphetamine usage, so I will :)

On the topic of therapeutic index (therapeutic dose / ld50 dose), caffeine is probably one of the highest in my list above, with an LD50 of ~150mg/kg over a short period of time, and a productive dose being of the order of 100-1000mg/day depending on tolerance. Discounting time, that's a ratio of ~1/10.

[1] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Methamphetami...

[2] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Modafinil

[3] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Khat

[4] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Coca#Traditio...

[5] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Xanthine

[6] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%9...

>The only thing more expensive has passed through the asshole of a small cat-like creature.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak