you've been drinking coffee your entire
adult life now you've decided to quit at
first you breathe a sigh of relief
realizing that you are no longer reliant
on the drug that is coffee but this
feeling doesn't last long your hands
start to shake you get a splitting
headache and you feel an uncontrollable
urge to run to the nearest coffee shop
and shoot caffeine straight into your
veins what actually happens when you
stop drinking coffee let's find out the
reason coffee is so addictive isn't
because of its taste but because of a
white bitter chemical found in the
coffee plants beans we are not talking
about any illegal drugs here instead
we're referring to caffeine the
surprising thing is that the food and
drug administration actually classifies
caffeine as an addictive drug it just
happens to be a legal one your body
craves the substance once it becomes
accustomed to it because caffeine causes
higher concentrations of dopamine to
build up in the brain due to its ability
to block specific receptors dopamine is
a neurotransmitter that makes you feel
happy after you drink coffee the
caffeine enters the bloodstream via your
stomach and small intestine it is then
carried around the body where it
activates the pleasure centers of the
brain so basically the caffeine and
coffee is tricking your body into
producing chemicals that make you happy
and more alert this feeling is a good
one and therefore your body doesn't want
to give it up so easily but how quickly
does it take for you to go into
withdrawal after your final sip of
coffee and what long-term effects will
it have on you according to a study
conducted in psychopharmacology that
consisted of a compilation of 170 years
of research the symptoms of caffeine
withdrawals can start as early as 12
hours after your last cup and there is
even worse news than that all of the
terrible feelings and changes to your
body could persist for nine days after
your body is cut off from the drug
unfortunately some of the worst symptoms
happen right away everyone is different
and everyone's body responds differently
to coffee withdrawals however we're
about to take a journey through what
will happen to most people who decide to
stop drinking coffee cold turkey moments
after your last sip of coffee the liquid
will descend down your esophagus and
into your stomach from there some of the
caffeine in the drink passes through
your stomach lining and into your
bloodstream seconds after that the
coffee will move into your small
intestine where the rest of the caffeine
diffuses through the tissue and begins
fully circulating around your body it
only takes a matter of minutes before
this process is complete this is why it
only takes a few sips of coffee to help
you feel awake the highest caffeine
levels your body will experience occur
about an hour after you finish your cup
of coffee from then on it'll all be
downhill after about an hour your body
slowly starts to use up all that
caffeine that's circulating through your
bloodstream this is okay until your body
realizes that it will not get a
replenishment the next day when you wake
up on your first day without drinking
coffee you will feel groggy but those
nasty symptoms are just about to begin
as you walk into the kitchen and sit
down to drink a glass of orange juice
instead of your regular cup of coffee
you notice your hands are shaking
actually you might feel every part of
your body begin to jitter this is ironic
because too much caffeine can cause the
same symptoms due to the substance being
a powerful stimulant that causes the
nervous system to send signals through
the body faster than usual when this
stimulant is removed the same side
effects can occur your body became so
used to the extra boost caffeine gave
that when the substance is removed the
nervous system slows down slightly and
the signals from the brain to the rest
of the body are less constant these
signals will now be at the appropriate
levels so that's good but your body is
just not used to functioning without the
help of coffee this is one of the
reasons why your first day without
caffeine might start with the shakes as
you sit at the kitchen table staring off
into space something begins to creep
into the back of your brain you're
probably thinking of coffee and how you
would give anything for just one sip
this is when you start to develop a
headache besides increasing the
concentration of dopamine in your body
to make you feel happy caffeine also
tricks the brain into thinking there's
an emergency which some scientists think
might cause adrenaline to be released
this is another reason why coffee makes
you feel so awake but the unfortunate
thing is that once the body gets used to
an influx in these chemicals it starts
to crave them without its daily dose of
caffeine the body does something strange
instead of maintaining normal hormone
levels your body begins dumping
adenosine into the bloodstream this is a
chemical that signals the body it needs
rest or sleep this change in brain
chemistry is what causes caffeine
withdrawal headaches to develop another
change that happens the morning after
you've given up coffee is that your
blood vessels start to enlarge this is
actually a good thing because it means
more oxygen can flow to the brain
however since your body has become
accustomed to shrunken blood vessels as
a result of drinking coffee the return
back to normal can be painful in fact
caffeine can reduce the blood flow to
the brain by as much as 27 which means
once it's out of your system your blood
flow can increase by the same figure
this would be a shock to your system
when caffeine causes the blood vessels
to narrow your body increases the number
of adenosine receptors on the blood
cells which helps them become enlarged
however caffeine binds to those same
receptors resulting in the blood cells
shrinking when the caffeine is finally
out of your system the cells still have
the extra receptors but no caffeine to
block them meaning the blood vessels
swell the rapid shift between not
getting enough blood flow because of the
caffeine to getting too much blood flow
can lead to withdrawal headaches the day
after you stop drinking coffee
unfortunately this symptom can persist
for the next several days after your
seething headache starts to subside
you'll notice something odd about your
morning constitutional if you regularly
evacuate your bowels after your morning
coffee you are not alone this is because
the caffeine in it can actually cause
contractions in the stomach intestines
and colon that signal the body it is
time to poop for people who want to stay
regular this can be incredibly helpful
but now that you stopped drinking coffee
you might feel backed up caffeine also
blocks the anti-diuretic hormone
produced in the pituitary gland which
signals the body that it's more hydrated
than it actually is this can lead to the
urge to urinate more frequently while
drinking coffee as well however on your
first day off that brown liquid your
body becomes confused your hormones are
out of whack and the body is storing all
the fluids and solids it would normally
excrete after your morning cup of coffee
the crazy thing is that coffee can cause
the body to start preparing itself to go
to the bathroom in as little as a few
minutes after drinking it unfortunately
your first day not drinking coffee will
be filled with bathroom frustrations as
you will probably be constipated for
most of the day besides having bathroom
problems you'll also have concentration
problems your first few days after
cutting coffee out of your life as you
try to make it through your first
workday without coffee you'll find that
you are less productive this is because
your brain is not being filled with
dopamine like normal and there's a
buildup of adenosine a hormone that
makes you drowsy it'll be a struggle to
stay focused and get anything done
during your first day of work without
coffee but there is even worse news the
next day you'll probably be just as
unproductive your body's become so
accustomed to the jolt of energy that's
given by a cup of coffee that'll not be
able to recover in just a day or two you
could end up feeling a lack of
productivity for the entire week luckily
there's also good news in several
research studies it was found that after
people got over their caffeine
withdrawal their productivity exceeded
what it was before this is because
caffeine might give some more focus when
consumed daily but is artificial when
the body's allowed to operate at optimum
levels without the aid of an outside
drug you could be more productive for
longer periods of time you're almost
through your first day of no coffee and
it's become brutal unfortunately there
are even worse side effects to come as
you progress through the day you'll find
yourself getting annoyed more easily and
irritated by the littlest things this is
just another side effect of all the
changes occurring in your body the
imbalance of hormones feelings of being
tired lack of energy will make you wish
you could curl up in a ball and just
sleep until your body's passed through
the withdrawal stages along with being
irritable you'll become more and more
anxious as well however like most of the
side effects of coffee this too will
pass it could even be better for your
health the anxiousness comes from an
imbalance in all the chemicals mentioned
before along with norepinephrine and
glutamate these two are especially
responsible for that anxious feeling
lingering in your brain unfortunately
even sleep won't help you at this point
you lie in bed staring at the ceiling
hoping for rest to come you expect that
since you've been tired all day you'd
just be able to pass right out but this
isn't the case your body is struggling
to regain some form of the normalcy it
had before you made coffee a regular
part of your life unfortunately a
byproduct of this process is lack of
sleep your first night since you stopped
drinking coffee will likely be restless
as you toss and turn trying to will your
body to fall asleep this is part of the
addiction recovery process because even
though you might have decided to give up
coffee your body's chemical processes
are not yet on board hormone levels are
still out of balance the brain is
desperately trying to cope with the
chemical changes associated with the
lack of caffeine throughout the day
eventually you'll doze off but since you
probably didn't sleep great the second
day of no coffee will be worse than the
first you will wake up even more tired
than the day before all of those
withdrawal symptoms from the previous
day will likely persist along with some
new ones countless studies have found
that the main symptoms someone feels
after giving up coffee is fatigue this
is kind of interesting because contrary
to popular belief coffee doesn't
actually give you much energy at all
it's the way it throws your body's
internal chemistry into controlled chaos
that tricks you into thinking you have
more energy when you drink coffee coffee
only has around one calorie per cup and
since calories are the measurement of
energy contained in food and drinks it's
clear that coffee does not give you much
energy at all on average one egg
contains around 78 calories which means
you need to drink 78 cups of coffee in
order to get the same amount of energy
from eating a single egg this would be
incredibly damaging to your health so
please do not try this as day 2
progresses without coffee you may start
to feel depressed dopamine glutamate and
norepinephrine are all chemicals that
help you regulate your mood caffeine in
coffee throws all of them out of balance
since your body's trying to compensate
for the lack of caffeine in your system
it can overcompensate when trying to
regulate these hormones and return them
back to normal levels the withdrawal
process can also exacerbate symptoms for
people who have been diagnosed with a
mood disorder this is why you might feel
sad for a few days after you stop
drinking coffee some studies even claim
that long-term coffee drinkers are more
at risk of developing mood disorders
such as depression because of the
fundamental changes caffeine can make to
the brain's chemistry so once you start
drinking coffee sadness may be in your
future as you progress through day two
of no coffee you will likely feel tired
irritable and sad all at the same time
but you know you just need to power
through and greener pastures are on the
other side a few days after you give up
coffee you might notice your blood
pressure going down this comes with all
sorts of perks lower blood pressure is
connected to lower stress and anxiety so
after a few days of going through
caffeine withdrawal hell you'll start to
see some positive benefits in your body
the caffeine and coffee can cause an
increase in blood pressure it can also
trick the body into going into fight or
flight mode an increase in blood
pressure for a short amount of time is
beneficial when trying to fight off an
attack or run away from a predator
because it allows more oxygen to
circulate to your muscles however
constantly having high blood pressure
can be detrimental to your health it has
even been linked to an increased chance
of heart attack or stroke less than a
week after quitting coffee your body
will begin to adjust to the reduced
amount of adrenaline and caffeine in the
body this will cause your blood pressure
to decrease to more sustainable levels a
week or so after you stop drinking
coffee the withdrawal symptoms should be
almost completely gone or at least much
more manageable if they're not it could
mean you were drinking way too much
coffee once you start feeling better you
might find yourself smiling more which
is a good thing because a week or two
after you stop drinking coffee your
teeth will start to gain back some of
their original color coffee is acidic
which means it can stain or damage your
teeth once you stop consuming the brown
liquid your body can get to work on
repairing the damage it's done coffee
causes the saliva in your mouth to dry
out which normally protects the teeth
from enamel buildup this along with the
acidity can cause lasting damage coffee
also contains tannins which can cause
the color from different foods and
drinks to stick to the teeth and stain
them even more interestingly it's been
found that brushing your teeth right
after drinking coffee will only
exacerbate the problem as it spreads
around the acids and compounds that
stain your teeth rather than removing
them therefore it's recommended you wait
30 minutes after drinking coffee to
brush your teeth now that you quit
drinking this stuff all together your
teeth are thanking you and you'll notice
that that brownish color associated with
coffee stained teeth is beginning to
lighten in the next week or two your
teeth might even be noticeably brighter
after weeks of fine tuning your body
chemistry is almost completely back to
normal without the side effects of
caffeine withdrawal you'll get a good
night's sleep practically every night
your brain can now more consciously
spend time in slow wave and rem sleep
which are part of its restoration
process you'll also find that you need
to use the bathroom less which allows
you to sleep soundly through the night
and if you usually had a cup of coffee
in the afternoon or early evening just
to give yourself that one last jolt
before the end of the day these effects
will be even more noticeable studies
have shown that drinking coffee even six
hours before going to sleep can severely
disrupt the sleep cycle not to mention
making it harder to fall asleep
initially this is because the lingering
caffeine in your system is enough to
trick your body into thinking it should
be alert rather than resting two weeks
after you stop drinking coffee you'll
feel like a new person or at least the
person you were before becoming addicted
to the stuff it's interesting to note
that although many people drink coffee
to wake up in the morning studies have
shown that once coffee is removed from
someone's daily routine they tend to
feel better rested and more awake than
they did when they still drank the
caffeinated beverage this is likely
because there is no substitute for a
good night's rest and taking care of
yourself you've now reached the
long-term effects of cutting coffee out
of your life you've suffered through
caffeine withdrawal mood swings and the
readjustment of your chemical
composition you're now enjoying some of
the perks associated with the coffee
free lifestyle but how will this
decision affect you in the long run it's
been several weeks since your last cup
of coffee and you're feeling good
there's a biological reason for this for
as long as you've been drinking coffee
your body has been thrown out of
homeostasis by the addictive caffeine
compound now that it's been flushed from
your system your hormone levels are
completely back to normal returning to
normal hormone levels has been found to
be especially beneficial in women as the
caffeine and coffee can throw their
estrogen levels out of whack in some
women caffeine can decrease the amount
of estrogen in the body this can lead to
hot flashes mood swings and lowered sex
drive these aren't life-threatening
conditions but can definitely cause
stress especially if the coffee drinker
doesn't know why it's happening in other
women caffeine can increase the amount
of estrogen produced causing more severe
pms depression and non-cancerous lumps
on the breasts and uterus now that the
amount of caffeine ingested has been
reduced over several weeks estrogen
levels are back to normal to be clear
caffeine consumption for both men and
women affects hormone levels the longer
you go without a cup of coffee the
better you'll feel there's no doubt that
the days or even weeks of withdrawals
sucks but you will feel so much better
in the long run it's also been found
that people who stop drinking coffee can
lose weight in the weeks after they kick
the habit the reason for this is most
likely connected to the substances added
to the coffee such as milk and sugar
rather than the coffee itself a duke
university study showed that coffee
along with other caffeinated drinks
increases a person's daily sugar intake
by about 10
now that you've removed coffee from your
diet your body is using more stored fats
instead of burning the extra sugars that
are in your morning beverage this could
cause you to lose weight and feel better
all at the same time however there is
something everyone should be aware of
when they stop drinking coffee although
there are benefits and for many people
they may experience weight loss there's
a chance you may gain weight instead
coffee can suppress your appetite
without you even realizing it this means
that after your body recovers from the
initial shock of being deprived of
caffeine you might have a bigger
appetite each morning there are a couple
of reasons for this in the early days
when your body was still craving
caffeine you might have tried to fix the
problem by consuming sugar in the form
of donuts or cookies however as time
progressed you may begin to realize that
you should have been having a bigger
breakfast every morning and that coffee
was tricking your body into thinking it
was full when it was not there's some
important thing to learn from this after
a few weeks of not drinking coffee you
might realize you're hungry than you
were previously this is just your body
telling you that you should be taking in
more calories it doesn't mean that you
should be loading up on sugary foods but
that your morning routine should be
filled with more fruits and cereals
instead of an addictive drug found in a
hot beverage this could in turn cause
you to gain some weight but perhaps
that's okay just because you gain a
little weight from eating a bigger
healthier breakfast instead of skipping
the meal for a cup of coffee doesn't
mean you should panic maybe now that
you're feeling better overall you'll
have more time for exercise or to pursue
other activities this could lead to you
dropping whatever weight you gained
while also living a healthier life one
of the most pleasing results you might
see after a few weeks of no coffee could
be a younger you that's right research
suggests that removing coffee from your
daily routine could result in healthier
skin your body is no longer under the
influence of the diuretic tendencies of
caffeine so it's retaining more water
this is not only good for your internal
processes but for your skin as well now
that you're sleeping better less anxious
and have healthier skin your body seems
to go back in time you aren't actually
becoming younger but the damaged coffee
and caffeine cause to your skin and your
body is almost completely reversed one
study concluded that the caffeine in
coffee prevented skin cells from
producing collagen this protein gives
your skin its structure and aids in
repairing damage to cells helping you
maintain a more youthful look there also
might be a connection between caffeine
and the disruption of dna synthesis in
skin cells this is true removing coffee
from your daily life could allow skin
cells to multiply more efficiently the
benefits of reducing the amount of
coffee you consume or giving it up
completely are numerous however most
things in moderation tend to be okay one
rumor that many people have heard about
drinking coffee is that it can stunt
your growth or cause bone loss but is
there any actual truth to this the
answer might surprise you according to
the national institutes of health's
office of dietary supplements and
harvard health publishing there's
evidence that the caffeine in coffee can
affect your bones so after you stop
drinking coffee will your bones become
stronger the answer is no according to
scientists caffeine and coffee can
increase calcium excretion and reduce
absorption but not by any significant
amount the total amount of calcium lost
from drinking coffee is around two to
three milligrams in someone's lifetime
and has no ill effects on growth the
prevalence of this myth is actually a
perfect example of correlation not
meaning causation the research studies
found that people who drank more coffee
tended to drink less milk and other
beverages that contained calcium the
lack of calcium-rich drinks led to
weaker bones not the coffee itself
therefore doctors warned that if you
stop drinking coffee it will not help
your bone to become stronger however
they do recommend replacing coffee with
a beverage that's rich in calcium and
vitamin d which will most certainly help
you build stronger bones and prevent
osteoporosis what it comes down to is
that removing coffee from your life will
make you feel awful at first but it's
better in the long run that being said
studies show the average american
consumes 200 milligrams of caffeine a
day between the food they eat and the
liquids they drink this is a little much
but probably won't kill you however if
you take in 600 milligrams or the
equivalent of four cups of coffee in a
day it could cause serious health
problems if this is you it might be time
to remove the addictive substance from
your daily routine now watch this is
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