Why I gave up tea and coffee and what came out of it. Personal story and doctor’s opinion

Larisa Bogucharskaya

blogger

I used to drink coffee and black tea all the time, but over time I started to notice a drop in energy. Besides, when you include these drinks in your daily diet, you can no longer fully taste and smell other foods. At the same time I work with meditations, so I try to increase my resource state. This prompted me to conduct an experiment and for 10 days to exclude all drinks containing caffeine and taurine (i.e. coffee and tea) from my life.

I used to drink two cups of freshly ground coffee every day. Honestly, I was a little uncomfortable starting my morning without this beverage.

Day one

I was left with the feeling that something was missing, namely the smell of coffee. After drinking chamomile infusion and breathing in the smell of coffee beans, the craving for an invigorating drink disappeared. I fell asleep easier and slept more soundly.

Day Two

Woke up this morning lighter than usual, but still craved coffee…or the smell of it. I decided to repeat yesterday’s ritual: I inhaled the smell of coffee beans and drank chamomile. I continued to feel better.

Day three

I felt even more energized. I managed to accomplish a lot of things during the day and fell asleep earlier than usual with a feeling of lightness. By the way, I did not inhale coffee beans anymore. From the third day the experiment went on without difficulties. However, in the evening I wanted sweet black tea, but I replaced it with chamomile with cinnamon and a drop of honey.

The next days were even easier. Every day more energy was added, sleep became better, waking up and falling asleep – more easily.

So gradually I got into the natural biorhythms. My concentration increased, my brain began to work better, and my general condition improved. Now I only drink a cup of coffee or tea about once every seven to ten days, depending on my mood, enjoying the process.

Doctor’s opinion

Clinical geneticist, nutritionist and expert of UniProf Academy of Physicians

The effect of coffee and tea on our body depends not just on our “love or dislike” for the drink, but on our genetic features of its assimilation, tolerance and excretion time.

The time during which coffee and tea have any effect on our bodies depends on how quickly the body can digest them. Normally, caffeine is broken down in an average of five hours, in children it is faster, only three to four hours, as their metabolism is faster.

Key to this process is the gene (enzyme) responsible for how quickly the body “digests” caffeine and tannins (tea).

Caffeine is metabolized mainly in the liver. In people with a breakdown of this enzyme, coffee is processed much more slowly, thus giving not only a state of being “overwhelmed” by the beverage, but actually inhibiting liver cleansing.

Such people may be “addicted” to coffee and tannins as a mild “drug”, feeling the effects of arousal longer. However, caffeine and tannins flush out fluid, overloading the kidneys. Therefore, giving up coffee in people addicted to uplifting beverages gives a quick feeling of lightness and cleanliness, as in the case of the heroine of the story.

Who should give up drinks with caffeine and what to replace them with?

You should exclude these drinks from your diet for people with:

• Hyperpigmentation of the skin (especially suddenly acquired, with excessive moles);
• excessive secretion of fat through the pores of the face or body;
• liver and kidney disease;
• high platelets and a tendency to thick blood;
• hypertension or a tendency to high blood pressure;
• excessive body weight (especially of an edematous nature).

Substitutions can be made for:

• cocoa, but it is advisable not to get too carried away either;
• any floral or herbal tea;
• for lovers of bitterness and bright flavors – ginger, infusions of Siberian fir, diluted in water, saffron, mint, wormwood in the form of tea or infusions, chicory, chamomile;

• grapefruit juice or fruit with or without lime;
• bitter herbs – artichoke leaves, dandelion roots, milk thistle seeds – which are excellent for supporting liver function.