Step-by-Step Method to Wean off Coffee

Step-by-step method to break your addiction to caffeine

In order to detox effectively and allow your liver to excrete toxins, you need to cut out caffeine.

Caffeine is a powerful stimulant and a highly addictive toxin. As well as the obvious sources of coffee and tea, it is found in colas (including diet varieties), energy drinks and chocolate. You may also be surprised to find it in decaf coffee, some herbal teas like green tea, sodas such as Sunkist Orange and root beer, and even some over-the-counter medications.

Depending on your level of addiction, stopping cold turkey will likely give you some severe withdrawal symptoms, including headaches, fatigue, mood swings and poor concentration. They can start anywhere from 12 to 20 hours after your last caffeine hit and can peak at 2 days. Symptoms may last as long as a week, but should decrease in severity as each day passes.

We only recommend you go “cold turkey” if you have a small amount of caffeine in your diet (e.g. 1 shot of coffee and 2 squares of chocolate), and if you know you will have a quiet couple of days ahead of you (is there such a thing when you are a mum?).

Otherwise, we recommend you gently eliminate caffeine from your diet with the following weaning steps:

Day 1:

• Half the amount of coffee you would normally drink. You can do this in two ways. You can either cut the number of coffees you have in half, so if you have 2 coffees a day you should reduce this to 1 coffee. Or, you can reduce the strength of your coffee by half. You can do this whether you buy your coffee out or make it at home – either ask for half strength, or if making yourself use half your normal amount. You can have your coffee with unsweetened coconut, almond or macadamia milk (or no milk).

• If you are a daily chocolate eater, change your chocolate for a couple of squares of high-quality organic dark chocolate with a high cocoa content. Do not consume anything else that contains caffeine.

Day 2:

• Replace half your remaining coffee intake with decaf (we recommended an organic blend which has far less chemicals and toxins). So, if you have 2 coffees a day, make one a half strength and the other a decaf.

• Reduce to one square of dark chocolate.

Day 3:

• Have 1 decaf and 1 green tea.

• No chocolate.

Day 4:

• No decaf or chocolate. Drink green tea, chai tea, and caffeine free herbal teas.

You may still suffer some withdrawal symptoms – headaches, irritability, and fatigue. If so, try to avoid medications if you can. Make sure you drink plenty of filtered pure water and take a magnesium supplement to help ease any symptoms.

Rest as much as possible and get early nights when you can as this will improve your detoxification process and reduce the withdrawal symptoms.

Breaking a caffeine habit can be challenging but is well worth the effort. Once your body is free of this toxin your sleep will be better and of higher quality, your energy will increase, and your overall health will improve.

MOJO TIP!

Have another addiction or food habit you want to break? This method will work the same. The key is to wean off it slowly and find a good quality, natural, organic substitute for it. Swap out one bad diet habit, for a healthier one.

So, if you are trying to quit sugar for example, you can follow the same steps to reduce your quantity, and find healthy sweet alternatives such as stevia (a healthy herb that keeps blood sugar levels balanced but still has that sweet taste).