Have you tried to quit your morning coffee? Within 24 hours of quitting the drug, your
withdrawal symptoms begin. Initially, they’re subtle: The first thing you
notice is that you feel mentally foggy, and lack alertness. Your muscles are
fatigued, even when you haven’t done anything strenuous, and you notice that
you’re more irritable than usual.
Over time, an unmistakable throbbing headache
sets in, making it difficult to concentrate on anything. Eventually, as your
body protests having the drug taken away, you might even feel dull muscle pains,
nausea and other flu-like symptoms.
It is a Drug
This isn’t heroin, tobacco or even alcohol
withdrawal. We’re talking about quitting caffeine, a substance consumed so widely (more than 80% of North American adults drink it daily) and in such
mundane settings (say, at an office meeting or in your car) that we often
forget it’s a drug — and by far the world’s most popular psychoactive one.
Like many drugs, caffeine is chemically
addictive, a fact that scientists established
in 1994. Last May, with the publication of the 5th edition
of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), caffeine
withdrawal was finally included as a mental disorder for the first time — even
though its merits for inclusion are symptoms that regular coffee-drinkers have
long known well from the times they’ve gone off it for a day or more.
Why, exactly, is caffeine addictive? The
reason stems from the way the drug affects the human brain, producing the alert
feeling that caffeine drinkers crave.
Soon after you drink (or eat) something
containing caffeine, it’s absorbed through the small intestine and dissolved
into the bloodstream. Because the chemical is both water and fat-soluble
(meaning that it can dissolve in water-based solutions — think blood — as well as
fat-based substances, such as our cell (membranes), it’s able to penetrate the
blood-brain barrier and enter the brain.
Structurally, caffeine closely resembles a
molecule that’s naturally present in our brain, called adenosine (which is a by-product
of many cellular processes, including cellular respiration) — so much so, in
fact, that caffeine can fit neatly into our brain cells’ receptors for
adenosine, effectively blocking them off. Normally, the adenosine produced over
time locks into these receptors and produces a feeling of tiredness.
When caffeine molecules are blocking those
receptors, they prevent this from occurring, thereby generating a sense of
alertness and energy for a few hours.
Additionally, some of the brain’s own natural
stimulants (such as dopamine) work more effectively when the adenosine
receptors are blocked, and all the surplus adenosine floating around in the
brain cues the adrenal glands to secrete adrenaline, another stimulant.
Buzzed
For this reason, caffeine isn’t technically a
stimulant on its own, says Stephen R. Braun, the author or Buzz: the Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine, but a stimulant
enabler: a substance that lets our natural stimulants run wild. Ingesting caffeine,
he writes, is akin to “putting a block of wood under one of the brain’s primary
brake pedals.” This block stays in place for anywhere from four to six hours,
depending on the person’s age, size and other factors, until the caffeine is eventually
metabolized by the body.
Brain
Chemistry Will Change
In people who take advantage of this process
on a daily basis (i.e. coffee/tea, soda or energy drink addicts), the brain’s chemistry
and physical characteristics actually change over time as a result. The most
notable change is that brain cells grow more adenosine receptors, which is the
brain’s attempt to maintain equilibrium in the face of a constant onslaught of
caffeine, with its adenosine receptors so regularly plugged (studies indicate that
the brain also responds by decreasing the number of receptors for
norepinephrine, a stimulant). This explains why regular coffee drinkers build
up a tolerance over time —because you have more adenosine receptors, it
takes more caffeine to block a significant proportion of them and achieve the
desired effect.
This also explains why suddenly giving up
caffeine entirely can trigger a range of withdrawal effects. The underlying
chemistry is complex and not fully understood, but the principle is that your
brain is used to operating in one set of conditions (with an
artificially-inflated number of adenosine receptors, and a decreased number of
norepinephrine receptors) that depend upon regular ingestion of caffeine.
Suddenly, without the drug, the altered brain chemistry causes all sorts of
problems, including the dreaded caffeine withdrawal headache.
If you drink more than 4 cups of coffee per
day, such as more than 500 to 600 mg a day – you may experience side effects
such as:- Insomnia
- Nervousness
- Restlessness
- Irritability
- Stomach upset
- Fast heartbeat
- Muscle tremors
Magnesium
Deficiency
Coffee, sodas and black tea can lead to a magnesium deficiency due to both the caffeine and acid content! This can cause a host of problems with regard to your health, i.e. kidney stones, pain management and inflammation.
“Magnesium is the most critical mineral required for electrical stability of every cell in the body. A magnesium deficiency may be responsible for more diseases than any other nutrient.” - Dr. Norman Shealy
After oxygen, water, and basic food, Magnesium may be the
most important element needed by our bodies, vitally important yet hardly
known. It is more important than calcium, potassium or sodium and regulates all
three of them. Millions suffer daily from magnesium deficiency without even
knowing it!
Coffee, sodas and black tea can lead to a magnesium deficiency due to both the caffeine and acid content! This can cause a host of problems with regard to your health, i.e. kidney stones, pain management and inflammation.
Maybe you don’t have immediate or long-term
health consequences in mind but are tired of being dependent on caffeine to get
going or stay going during the day. It’s not an empowering feeling to wake up
thinking about getting your “fix” and knowing you’ll suffer a monster headache
if you don’t get it.
Sleep
Deprivation
Most adults need seven to eight hours of
sleep each night. But caffeine can interfere with this much-needed sleep.
Chronically losing sleep — whether it's from work, travel, stress or too much
caffeine — results in sleep deprivation. Sleep loss is cumulative, and even
small nightly decreases can add up and disturb your daytime alertness and
performance.
Using caffeine to mask sleep deprivation can
create an unwelcome cycle. For example, you may drink caffeinated beverages
because you have trouble staying awake during the day. But the caffeine keeps
you from falling asleep at night, shortening the length of time you sleep.
Giving
Up Coffee
The good news is that, compared to many drug
addictions, the effects are relatively short-term. To kick the thing, you only
need to get through about 7-12 days of symptoms without drinking any
caffeine. During that period, your brain will naturally decrease the number
of adenosine receptors on each cell, responding to the sudden lack of caffeine
ingestion. If you can make it that long without a cup of “joe” or a “spot of
tea”, the levels of adenosine receptors in your brain reset to their baseline
levels, and your addiction will be broken.
You won’t miss the jitters, energy crashes,
teeth stains, dehydration, and nervous irritability!
 |
| Energy Drinks Have Caffeine |
If you need to break your addiction to
caffeine, here’s how to do it with minimal discomfort .
Know your “why.” Why do you want to curb your
caffeine intake? Everyone I know who
drinks coffee say “they say coffee is good for you, right? Antioxidants and all
that?”
Truth: Up to 400 mg per day is regarded as safe for
most healthy adults. That translates to about 4 cups (8 oz sized) of brewed
coffee, 10 cans of cola or two “energy shot” drinks. (Adolescents should be limited to 100 mg of
caffeine a day.)
I drink _____ cups per day and my
favourite cup holds ____ oz of coffee.
For some, a single cup of drip coffee causes
increased sweating, nervousness, mood changes, and a caffeine crash!
Curbing
Caffeine Intake
To change your caffeine habit more
gradually:
Keep tabs. Start paying attention to how much
caffeine you're getting from foods and beverages. It’s usually more than you
think so read the labels carefully! Even then, your estimate may be a little
low because not all foods or drinks list caffeine. Chocolate, which has a small
amount, doesn't.
Cut back. But do it gradually. For example,
drink one fewer can of soda or drink a smaller cup of coffee each day. Or avoid
drinking caffeinated beverages late in the day. This will help your body get
used to the lower levels of caffeine and lessen potential withdrawal effects.
Go decaf. Most decaffeinated beverages look and
taste the same as their caffeinated counterparts.
Shorten the brew time or go herbal. When making tea,
brew it for less time. This cuts down on its caffeine content. Or choose herbal
teas that don't have caffeine.
Check the bottle. Some
over-the-counter pain relievers contain caffeine — as much as 130 mg of
caffeine in one dose. Look for caffeine-free pain relievers instead.
Caution
on Caffeine Consumption
Although the recent research and evidence is
shifting toward a more favourable view of coffee's effect on our health, it is
not based on cause and effect but on links for which there could be other
explanations: it could be that regular coffee drinkers have something else in
common, that studies have yet to discover, to account for the effect on health.
As usual, it is always up to you to manage
your caffeine intake. Mark Twain once
said,
“Too much of anything is not good”
and that goes for caffeine too!
“Too much of anything is not good”
and that goes for caffeine too!
At Osteoklinika:
We provide professional osteopathic care; relieving pain, reducing stiffness and increasing mobility, so you may feel better as soon as possible. Please call us to book your consultation at 905.660.8810. - Andrew Subieta, M.Sc., R.M.T., C.L.T. andrew@osteoklinika.com
We provide professional osteopathic care; relieving pain, reducing stiffness and increasing mobility, so you may feel better as soon as possible. Please call us to book your consultation at 905.660.8810. - Andrew Subieta, M.Sc., R.M.T., C.L.T. andrew@osteoklinika.com
Also, please check our website at www.osteoklinika.com for more information about Bio-Structural Integration™, or our Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter pages.
