Our society is built on caffeine.
For fun, go to Energyfiend.com and see how much of your favorite energy drink you will need for a caffeine induced suicide. I will die after 261 cans of Diet Mountain Dew.
Over the last several years the popularity of energy drinks has increased. Most of these drinks contain caffeine as the main ingredient. Not only has the consumption increased, so has the number brands, size, and varied packaging (like 5 Hour Energy). Many people buy these drinks by the case. We also have energy options in coffee and many soft drinks (like Sunkist Orange Soda). Heck, a couple of years ago Star Bucks began offering a 31 ounce coffee called the trenta which is Spanish for bucket. You know, I did need a 50 gallon drum of coffee to go next to my 50 gallon drum of whop-ass.
These drinks are great for helping you stay awake but I believe there is more to the story.
Aside from the chemical addiction of caffeine, consider why we feel we are always tired. Here is what I came up with:
- Not enough sleep
- Our normal activity (such as work) is so boring we cannot stay awake
- We don’t get enough exercise
What ideas do you have?
Now to the main point. I believe most of us are addicted to caffeine and the companies that sell these drinks are cashing in on our drug fueled addiction. I am not against you drinking caffeinated drinks, but you should not need them every day.
Before we dig in, I want to admit that I am caffeine addict. I end up drinking a ton and have periodically to wean myself off. I love the feeling, but I keep drinking more trying to chase that caffeine dragon.
It is not lack of sleep that makes us want caffeine it is lack of caffeine.
Remember the first time you had a caffeinated drink like coffee. Within 30 minutes you had all the energy in the world and most likely it was from a small serving. How much do you drink now?
Time to nerd it up.
If you drink a certain amount of coffee every day your body grows accustomed to it and it learns to operate at normal levels while consuming caffeine. When it gets to this point and you stop consuming caffeine then you have symptoms of withdrawal. You are tired, get headaches, migraines, etc.
Do you want to quit? Here is how I do it:
- Purchase a shaker or water bottle (affiliate link)
- fill it up with your caffeinated drink of choice and drink as much as you feel you need to over the day (fill it up multiple times if you want)
- Document how much you drank that day in ounces.
- Tomorrow drink 2 ounces less using the bottle to help you measure.
- Repeat the process every day reducing how much you drink by 2 ounces
- If there is a day you drink a ton more you can go back to the previous days amount. For example, you are at 24 ounces of coffee and the next day you drink a lot more drink 48 the following day. If you jump it up more than one day in a row you will need to start over again.
This system has allowed me to eliminate the need of caffeinated drinks without the headaches or getting tired. You should try it.