How to Limit Caffeine Intake to Improve Your Health

Most healthcare providers agree that as a whole, residents of industrialized countries consume much more caffeine than is considered moderate or healthy. From our morning coffee to our afternoon tea and all the sodas and energy drinks in between, we are a society of caffeine addicts that are putting ourselves at risk for cardiovascular disease, stomach ailments, calcium deficiency and increased inflammation.

If you are one of the many who are trying to limit their caffeine intake without giving up their cherished morning latte or changing their daily rituals, try out these tips to lower caffeine consumption and avoid the headaches and other withdrawal symptoms that sometimes accompany kicking the addiction.

Whether you are looking to completely remove caffeine from your life, or just want to take it down a notch, these tips and suggestions will help you lower your caffeine consumption without even noticing it.

The first thing to look at is the connection between caffeine and sugar and to recognize that both substances cause energy peaks and valleys - or rushes and crashes. Caffeinated beverages and foods are often also laden with sugar and these two substances working together are affecting your health more than you might realize. Added to the cardiovascular issues, higher blood pressure and inflammation linked to caffeine, we also must address the issues around dental health, weight management and inflammation linked to high levels of sugar consumption.

Also, if you cut out sugar by way of cutting out caffeine without thinking about the effects, you will experience more extreme fatigue, headaches and crashes. Therefore, if your caffeinated products are laced with sugar, removing the sugar might be the best first step for you to take.

Also, make sure you drink plenty of water to help avoid dehydration and the headaches it can cause. And, you may want to consider taking a Vitamin B supplement for its mood balancing, energizing and metabolism boosting effects.

Decrease your Caffeine Consumption: Tea

If you make tea at home it is very easy to lower your caffeine intake simply by using both caffeinated and decaffeinated tea bags for your brew. For example, if you use eight tea bags per pitcher, begin the process of decreasing caffeine by using six caffeinated tea bags and two decaffeinated tea bags. Then go to four caffeinated and four decaffeinated, and so on, until you have switched to only using decaffeinated tea.

If you purchase tea at fast food restaurants and don't want (or don't have time) to start making your own at home, you most likely will not be able to find decaf options, so the best way to begin to lower your caffeine intake is to start ordering smaller sizes and limit your tea intake altogether. The best option, of course, is to make your own tea at home and bring it with you in a reusable bottle.

Decrease your Caffeine Consumption: Coffee

Coffee is often the main culprit when it comes to our daily caffeine intake, but whether you make it at home or pick it up at your favorite coffee spot on your way to work, switching to decaf is really quite easy. Of course, you can always just go cold tofurkey and switch directly to decaf, but this will likely be accompanied by lulls in energy and headaches. The better way to lower your caffeine intake from coffee is to first switch to half caffeinated coffee and then cut that with decaf until you have fully transformed into a decaf coffee drinker.

Switching to half caffeinated coffee is simple. If you make it at home, simply purchase half caff or, if you have a huge container of fully caffeinated coffee and don't want to waste it, purchase decaf and make your coffee using half caffeinated grounds and half decaffeinated grounds. If you purchase your coffee on your way to work or school, just ask the barista for half caff.

Once you have comfortably switched to half caff and have been drinking that for a week or so, start cutting it with decaf using progressively less half caff and more decaf until you have completed your switch.

Decrease your Caffeine Consumption: Energy Drinks

In most cases energy drinks should really just be avoided. Some of them offer useful vitamins, but mostly they cause energy peaks that will later result in crashes, raise your blood pressure and, over time, can contribute to an overall decline in health.

That being said, they are an awfully nice energy and focus booster on those blah Mondays and I do occasionally partake in them even though I know I really shouldn't. However, I do know some folks who will drink four or five of the large sized energy drinks per day and that just can't be good.

As long as you continue drinking energy drinks you aren't going to lower your caffeine consumption from them, since, let's face it, a decaffeinated energy drink kind of defeats the purpose. Now, there are some natural, caffeine-free energy boosters out there, but if you are drinking those you are already in the clear. However, if you aren't drinking them, you might want to consider switching.

However, you can lower your sugar intake when drinking energy drinks. Most of them are packed with sugar, but there are sugar free options available and switching to sugar free energy drinks is a great first step.

Decrease your Caffeine Consumption: Sodas

If you drink regular soda (not diet or caffeine free) on a daily basis, the first step to lowering your intake is to switch to diet soda. Here's the deal, if you are consuming large amounts of soda, it's not just the caffeine that is affecting your health and energy/fatigue levels, it's also the sugar. Just like energy drinks with sugar, the sugar in soda causes peaks and crashes in your energy level, just like the caffeine does, and you do not want to cut both out at the same time if you are trying to avoid feelings of withdrawal. So, the first step is to cut back on the sugar. Then, once you have become accustomed to drinking soda without sugar, work on reducing the number of sodas you drink each day and switching caffeine free options.