Start the Caffeine Holiday

Who Should do it

This should be started today for everyone and done for the full 30 days of this program.

How to do it if you only drink 1 cup/day

If you only have one cup/serving of caffeine per day, you can quit ‘cold turkey.’

Weaning down if you drink >1 cup/day

If you drink more than one cup of coffee or other caffeinated drinks each day, minimize caffeine withdrawal symptoms (which will still likely happen to a lesser extent and can include irritability, foggy headedness and sleepiness but should go away within 5-7 days of stopping caffeine,) cut down by  ¼ cup coffee every 2 days, until no coffee or by ½ cup tea/day.

Swap it out with herbal teas, especially one with an adaptogen quality, which helps us handle stress, such as holy basil tea or licorice tea (avoid in pregnancy).

If you slip up, don’t beat yourself up, just start again the next day and avoid having more caffeine after the first cup.

Herbal Helpers to Boost Energy & Mental Clarity

To help with boosting energy and mental clarity that you may feel you are missing without caffeine, you can add some adaptogen herbs or mushroom such as:

• A supplement containing cordyceps, lionsmane and reishi mushrooms
• Licorice root + eleutherococcus and/or american ginseng.
• Try to avoid panex, or korean ginseng during the day as I find this tends to be too stimulating for many people, especially wound up warriors

The Emergency Caffeine Rescue Protocol

If you accidently slip up, this is my ‘emergency’ caffeine rescue protocol, although it will not eliminate the negative effects of caffeine on sleep:

• Take 400mg of L-theanine, an amino acid supplement form to help calm the nervous system
• Try capsules of silymarin, a botanical extract from milk thistle, which may help support the liver enzymes including the ones involved in breaking down caffeine.