Coffee Buzz

Readers of my food blog often ask how I made such the leap from chugging five to six cups of black coffee per day to serenely sipping a cup or two of green tea throughout the morning. This, my friends, was not an overnight adjustment. Rather it was a painful week-long transition that reminded me of getting through the storm to finally see the sun on the other side.

Why would you ever want to go through hell to give up drinking coffee when you think you are fine as is? Well here’s my story.

For the past ten years I have suffered from severe migraines. Migraines so painful I would literally have to pull my hair to release the tension from my head…not a pretty scenario. I also suffered tremendously from IBS growing up, and had just “so-so” skin. I drank a considerable amount of coffee in college, culinary school and my first job as an overnight bread baker at an organic grocery store. Coffee was what fueled me and I learned to drink it black and very, very strong.

As health problems came up, I pushed them out of sight. I ignored the fact that when I drank an iced Starbucks coffee I would immediately come down with a severe IBS attack. As I continued to up my coffee intake, especially during my 3 AM job shifts, my skin worsened, my IBS flared up and my migraines persisted. I didn’t really make the connection though, because I felt like I needed the coffee. I couldn’t live without it.

And then I did what you really shouldn’t do: I quit cold turkey. The more I thought about it, I didn’t like thinking that my body was so addicted to something that it physically needs it every morning to function. I had grown to hate the constant jitter (I couldn’t balance the scales right to accurately measure the yeast at work) and the disturbed sleep. Also, I had this notion that quitting coffee might just help my skin to clear up and restore a healthy glow.

After the initial detox period, which is common when you are ridding your body of the drug that it is addicted to, my health improved ten-fold. I had even more energy than ever before, my acne and IBS all but disappeared, and I slept soundly every single night. I still get migraines on occasion, but only because they are associated with my hormones.

So what do I sip on now? Tea, of course! I love green, white,  yerba mate or black tea in the morning, followed by herbal tea all afternoon and evening. My favorite teas are Yogi Tea and Tazo. Even though regular teas do contain caffeine, they have a much lower amount, thus reducing those “jitters” and awful coffee side effects.