Caffeine and Ayurveda

Eliminate Slowly to Avoid Withdrawal

I know.  It stinks.  I love coffee too.  On a normal day,  I have a cup of coffee.  It’s easy for me to not drink more because (1) I make bad coffee, and (2) I’m a Vata mind and usually forget where I’ve set my cup down after I’ve poured. If you are Cleansing with me, I suggest you eliminate caffeine entirely until the end of the Cleanse.  Otherwise, drink coffee in accordance to your body type.  QUIZ FOR BODY TYPE

Vata Body:  no more than one cup of coffee each day.

Pitta Body:  avoid coffee

Kapha Body:  no more than one cup of coffee each day.

Most people don’t really know how much coffee they drink.  The normal cup of 20 years ago equals two of our normal cups now.  Not to mention the “pick me ups” at the local coffee house which seem like special treats, but turn into daily doses.   And then there is the soda pop.  On an average day, you could have two to four caffeinated beverages and not realize it.  Caffeine is highly addictive and sneaks up on you.

Why We Eliminate Caffeine

Disease stems from poor digestion.  Caffeine slows digestion.  Drinking caffeine stresses the physical, mental and emotional bodies.   It increases the levels of glucocorticoids, such as cortisol, which actually make you hold onto fat.  These are stress hormones.

Caffeine has a negative effect on the immune system making it harder to fight viral and bacterial infections.  Caffeine causes your body to take oxygen from your brain to your extremities causing memory loss. If you are drinking unfiltered coffee, you are increasing your LDL.

Caffeine and your body

Did you know that caffeine has a half life of six hours in your body?  That means that if you drink a coffee at 3:00 p.m., your body will have processed only half of it by 9 pm.  This is disruptive to your sleep.

Caffeine is addictive.  When you stop using caffeine, you may experience symptoms of withdrawal in as little as 12 hours.  Symptoms of withdrawal include:

•    Headaches

•    Flu-like symptoms

•    Irritability and restlessness

•    Difficulty concentrating

•    Muscle stiffness

•    Chills

•    Hot flashes

•    Jitters

•    Insomnia

•    Anxiety

•    Nausea

•    Irregular heartbeat

•    Flushed face

The good news is caffeine is an addiction easy to break and it doesn’t have to be painful.  To eliminate caffeine from your diet, do the following:

Week 1:  Go about your daily routine.  When you get up in the morning and want your cup of coffee (you can think soda or tea here as well), go ahead and make it just like you always do.  Go to the sink and pour 1/3 off.  Drink your coffee and enjoy.  If you make a pot in the morning, go ahead and make the pot.  Go to the sink and poor 1/3 off.  Drink as usual.  The same is true for sodas.  Get your soda, pour 1/3 off, drink and enjoy.

Week 2:  The same as above, but now you are pouring two-thirds of the cup away.  This is the week when you may consider adding a decaf hot tea to your routine on top of the 1/3-cup of coffee

Week 3:  No more caffeine.  Substitute teas and hot waters instead.  (Green tea has caffeine.)

During this process, if you suffer from any of the previously mentioned withdrawal symptoms, have a very small serving of caffeine to ease your suffering.  A quarter cup of coffee will do the trick.  Most people  are surprised that they are completely off caffeine by Week 2!

The following table lists the caffeine content in some popular beverages.  There is no recommended daily allowance for caffeine.