Wean yoursel off tea/coffee

WhiteWalls

I get a headache when I don't drink tea. Because of this I presume I'm addicted to it. Sometimes I just drink it for the sake of it. Has anybody here ever stopped drinking it?

Was think a gradual reduction would be the best idea?

Tigger99

How much tea do you drink a day and how much water? I'm wondering if you rely on tea for fluids and cutting down on it results in dehydration headaches. I can drink 6 cups of tea one day and none the next and haven't gotten headaches so your post got me thinking.

Faith+1

Im with the Op on this one. Tried giving up tea for lent a few years ago and got really bad headaches the first day. No sooner did I have a cup the headache went! Guess I'm addicted too!

Pang

I did one of those 3 day juice cleanses four months ago to see what all the excitement was about and have had about three cups of tea ever since. Before the cleanse, I used to drink about 6 cups a day, I was hooked big time.

Now the cleanse was incredibly tough especially day two, I had a constant dull headache and it didn't ease for about five days after I began the cleanse. I imagine that it was all to do with me overcoming the tea addiction.

pearl348

Why give it up? If you like it...

Jack Skellington

I gave up tea about three weeks ago, I used to drink it in the morning to wake me up but I read that that feeling of needing a cup is more to do with not having a hit of caffeine in a while rather than being tired, not sure if true but tried it out anyway.

The first two days were awful, mad headaches, I usually drink plenty of water, but after awhile you get up in the mornings and just wake up gradually, no need for tea really.

I still get a craving for it when I hit a slump in work but that usually goes away when I have something to eat.

mickman

tea wont kill you. being "addicted" to coffee is much worse

maybe change to a good green tea blend and keep drinking it

WhiteWalls

mickman wrote: »

tea wont kill you. being "addicted" to coffee is much worse

maybe change to a good green tea blend and keep drinking it

There's still caffeine in tea though?

mickman

WhiteWalls wrote: »

There's still caffeine in tea though?

yes , very little and whats wrong with a little caffeine ?

green tea is full of antioxidants

a small cup of green tea is very good for you ,compared to a latte with whipped cream

Alf Veedersane

mickman wrote: »

tea wont kill you. being "addicted" to coffee is much worse

Why is coffee worse than tea?

mickman

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Why is coffee worse than tea?

its not worse if you drink one cup but most people drink multiple cups of either tea or coffee every day and in my opinion if you were to be addicted to one of these then tea would be the lesser of two evils, too much coffee will stimulate your body too much and increase your blood pressure. it would take much larger ammounts of tea to achieve this effect

WhiteWalls

mickman wrote: »

yes , very little and whats wrong with a little caffeine ?

green tea is full of antioxidants

a small cup of green tea is very good for you ,compared to a latte with whipped cream

except green tea tastes horrific?!

Alf Veedersane

mickman wrote: »

its not worse if you drink one cup but most people drink multiple cups of either tea or coffee every day and in my opinion if you were to be addicted to one of these then tea would be the lesser of two evils, too much coffee will stimulate your body too much and increase your blood pressure. it would take much larger ammounts of tea to achieve this effect

On the basis that there is more caffeine in coffee?

Which depends on the coffee/tea in any case.

People get a headache and assume an addiction, which doesn't have to be the case if you look at the physiological effect of caffeine on the blood vessels.

sandydan

WhiteWalls wrote: »

except green tea tastes horrific?!

why not add honey to green tea, camomile, berry tea , there are loads of healthy tea options available in health food shops,one tea i think it may be peppermint is good for headaches. actually my daughter suffered from headaches for few years. she also had stinking sweaty feet and was given something containing a herb in health shop to wash them with,i cant remember what name of it was but her headaches disappeared. i kid you not, big loss in sales of panadol.
btw my doc told me cut out tea for 12 months so all above were tried , was doing fine until i went back to ordinary stuff again, plus sugar in all cups.
tea is a diuretic so does not allow any of the water its made with to stay in body,unlike coffee, so i was told anyway and its not good for osteoporosis either and mine has improved,indicator was just above the red line last time instead of below

sandydan

just in case i gave impression im someone who knows a lot about dieting or healthy eating i don't ,its a suggestion that came from friends of mine while trying to cut down on my tea consumption so i decided to pass it on,

if anyone has suggestion please pass them on id try almost anything at this stage to curtail my tea & sugar consumption, im about to give up buying tea bags and buy loose tea instead(back to the 60s) in order to cut down on my own consumption ,my wife recons if i had to make pot of tea and wait for it to brew id drink less

Precious flower

Like others here, I'd suggest herbal teas as a replacement. But really maybe you could just cut it down to two cups of tea a day and cut out the coffee. The caffeine content of tea really isn't much. Really, I wouldn't give it up, it won't make any difference.

For me I find that when I try to give up tea, I eat more to compensate as I drink it out of habit so I have to replace it with food as herbal tea doesn't really replace it. I find tea a good distraction that prevents bored snacking and overeating. I would think if you gave it up you'd end up eating more. The calories in tea are nothing.

So if you like tea, drink it and enjoy it!! I don't drink coffee but if it's a weight concern you'd probably switch to black coffee or just coffee with milk. Again that won't make any dent in your diet.

sandydan

i make tea as weak as i can its the sugar, my tea making is so weak that relatives of mine simply refuse to allow me make it when they visit, one individual said something to effect of if he wanted water he'd go to tap for it, just another i know makes it weaker , just dips tea bag into cup and out ,something to do with her cholesterol and arthritis or osteoporosis,she said. but she refuses to take prescribed amount of cholesterol tablets, just half every day, she takes and her levels are ok

Sweet Rose

pearl348 wrote: »

Why give it up? If you like it...

Exactly, everything in moderation I believe. I was addicted and I mean addicted to coffee. I'd easily have 5-7 mugs per day. Once I had my baby, I realised that it was starting to effect my sleep so I made a deal with myself that I wasn't allowed to buy coffee for the house and I'd just have it when I was and about. I'm also not allowed coffee after 6p.m either. Now I see coffee as a treat and I savour every mouthful. I enjoy it a lot more now and I don't drown myself in it

Day Lewin

I suggest that if you want to wean off it, then gradually reducing the dose would be the way to ease out of it. Use smaller cups for a week, then skip one of them each day, etc.

I've never forgotten an interview I once heard on the radio with a woman of 90 who drank 8 cups of tea a day, so it can't be completely poisonous...:-) Joking!

sandydan

Sweet Rose wrote: »

Exactly, everything in moderation I believe. I was addicted and I mean addicted to coffee. I'd easily have 5-7 mugs per day. Once I had my baby, I realised that it was starting to effect my sleep so I made a deal with myself that I wasn't allowed to buy coffee for the house and I'd just have it when I was and about. I'm also not allowed coffee after 6p.m either. Now I see coffee as a treat and I savour every mouthful. I enjoy it a lot more now and I don't drown myself in it

id love to have that willpower , relative of wife has a wedding in November and for last 4 months hasn't eaten after 7 pm. and lost about 3 stone or so , you notice the difference no problem, walks in evening alright but more of stroll

Wyldwood

you could try having decaf tea instead, you'd still feel like you were having a cuppa but without the caffeine.

ch750536

6m 50 secs

lokii

Here's some bits from a book called caffeinated:
- Smokers metabolize it twice as fast as non-smokers so they need to up their intake to get the same buzz
- Some people are genetically predisposed to metabolize caffeine slowly and they will be very sensitive to caffeine
- 100 milligrams of caffeine daily is enough to get an adult dependent
- Migraine, hangover and cold medicines often include caffeine
- Post-operative headaches are linked to caffeine withdrawal
- Extroverts get more cognitive enhancement from caffeine
- A tablespoon of pure caffeine would kill you


Green tea isn't as innocent as it looks!
About cup of black tea has about 85mg of caffeine. Green tea has around 58mg.
Instant coffee would have 80mg and ground roasted coffee would have 115mg. Most herbal tea is 0mg.

sandydan

sandydan wrote: »

i make tea as weak as i can its the sugar, my tea making is so weak that relatives of mine simply refuse to allow me make it when they visit, one individual said something to effect of if he wanted water he'd go to tap for it, just another i know makes it weaker , just dips tea bag into cup and out ,something to do with her cholesterol and arthritis or osteoporosis,she said. but she refuses to take prescribed amount of cholesterol tablets, just half every day, she takes and her levels are ok

Tbh you just get used to the sugar over time and start adding more.
I am the same occasionally with honey. If I find I'm regularly taking more than a little, I cut it out completely for a few days then just use a small bit again once my tastebuds are readjusted.
I don't think tea is your problem, it's having cups of hot milk and sugar that are You might as well be eating icecream.

Force yourself to stop taking sugar in your tea for 2-3 days then you'll find you take a lot less.

ps tea is much much nicer when strong

sandydan

bluewolf wrote: »

Tbh you just get used to the sugar over time and start adding more.
I am the same occasionally with honey. If I find I'm regularly taking more than a little, I cut it out completely for a few days then just use a small bit again once my tastebuds are readjusted.
I don't think tea is your problem, it's having cups of hot milk and sugar that are You might as well be eating icecream.

Force yourself to stop taking sugar in your tea for 2-3 days then you'll find you take a lot less.

ps tea is much much nicer when strong

with an end note like that id nearly bet you were from Galway, when my cousins visit they make tea 5 bags in 4 cop pot yed nearly bend spoon handle to get it bottom of cup.
thanks for sugar tip , i find if i "forget to add sugar" i don't notice if eating but on its own...still use one spoon per cup never more. maybe its like fags when smoking sixty per day i had no problem giving them up (pneumonia twice and collapsed lung in 4 months, think id learn first time). anyhow went to work in place where all smoked and took "one " jayses what a blunder, smoking 10/day had one hell of job to give up , used weak nicotine gum and fruit drops to lubricate throat, in finish 3 weeks still miss buggers 20 years on

sandydan

katemarch wrote: »

I suggest that if you want to wean off it, then gradually reducing the dose would be the way to ease out of it. Use smaller cups for a week, then skip one of them each day, etc.

I've never forgotten an interview I once heard on the radio with a woman of 90 who drank 8 cups of tea a day, so it can't be completely poisonous...:-) Joking!

if i used thimbles id still manage to drink it, and one spoon of sugar in each, but thanks allsame.

Precious flower

sandydan wrote: »

with an end note like that id nearly bet you were from Galway, when my cousins visit they make tea 5 bags in 4 cop pot yed nearly bend spoon handle to get it bottom of cup.
thanks for sugar tip , i find if i "forget to add sugar" i don't notice if eating but on its own...still use one spoon per cup never more. maybe its like fags when smoking sixty per day i had no problem giving them up (pneumonia twice and collapsed lung in 4 months, think id learn first time). anyhow went to work in place where all smoked and took "one " jayses what a blunder, smoking 10/day had one hell of job to give up , used weak nicotine gum and fruit drops to lubricate throat, in finish 3 weeks still miss buggers 20 years on

The comment about the strong tea and you saying he was from Galway made me laugh as my dad is from Galway puts two teabags into his mug to make it as strong as possible and his father would let the tea draw in the tea pot for ages so it would be really, really strong! For me I go by colour a nice tanish colour means a good cup of tea for me!

pampootie

I'm from Galway. I like my tea like tar and am yet to find anyone where I live now in Cork who can make a cup strong enough for my tastes. I think you could be on to something!

sandydan

my mother now rip is from Galway and her family in Ireland, England and in States like STRONG tea, no exception and they tell me if you make tea make tea, there is water in the tap and if we want water we can find tap. now get out of way and we il show you how. I love the place actually as well as their way of saying things.

BlackWidow_

Huh, my brother lived in Galway for six years and ever since everyone has to dilute their tea down when he makes it. I never realised it was Galway thing, I thought it was just him!

sandydan

BlackWidow_ wrote: »

Huh, my brother lived in Galway for six years and ever since everyone has to dilute their tea down when he makes it. I never realised it was Galway thing, I thought it was just him!

ah well there's a man who can adapt to good livin real easy:), what made leave the area.i could not imagine anyone wanting to leave Galway and after six years/ when i was 14 a farm was up for sale near Gort and i begged my father to sell up here and go .but would he listen? naw:mad:

Talisman

I used to drink 7-10 mugs of coffee a day and the odd cup of tea whenever my wife was having one. Initially I tried to do cold turkey, no coffee/tea but the headache was something else and the slightest thing would irritate me. I lasted until the third day before I cracked and had a cup of coffee to relieve the headache.

I always hated those herbal teas but decided to try substitute them for coffee and tea. Initially I alternated between coffee and a herbal tea and limited myself to 7 cups a day 4 coffee, 3 tea and the next day 4 tea, 3 coffee. The result was I had no headache and in the process acquired a taste/appreciation for herbal teas.

After a week I reduced my consumption to limit myself to 3 cups of coffee a day and the following week it was 1 cup. That was over 6 months ago.

Now I drink 2 cups of herbal tea a day and 1 black coffee per week. I haven't had a traditional cup of tea in 3 months. I drink a lot more water now and also have added more protein to my diet which gives me the energy buzz to last the day. I was never a breakfast person and I think that was the root cause of my coffee/tea diet.

On the herbal tea front, they are an acquired taste.
Twinnings - I found their range of teas to taste very oily.
Barry's Green Tea With Lemon - this got me on the green tea train.
Lidl's Lemon and Ginger tea is the best they have to offer.
Pukka's range of teas are my personal favourite. Supreme Matcha Green is now my tea of choice.

As others have found, reducing my intake has given me an appreciation of the single cup of coffee when I have it now.

sandydan

got as far as 5 pm before i had a coffee today. got up in morning determined to avoid tea and bread today, god knows i was edgy in morning, anyway i had a cup of tea,slice of boiled meat and tomato at 7 and went back out to keep occupied. kinda satisfied enough for one day. took cup of green tea(barrys) and 2 camomile up to 4 (dinner time). its one of those flask cups you buy in pennys for €1.50 or so i use for herbal. thanks for helpful tip much appreciated.:)

sandydan

ch750536 wrote: »

6m 50 secs

can't figure this one out, can someone enlighten me or am i thick

coldcake

I loved drinking regular Irish tea but now I almost never drink it anymore.

I now drink a cinnamon tea in the morning, brown rice green tea around midday and camomile tea at night and sometimes Barry’s Ginger and Lemon tea.

I love the brown rice green tea as it smells a little like sugar puffs. I also like a jasmine green tea now and then; however I feel like it leaves my tongue dry!

I did hear someone on the radio recently say that the longer you brew tea the less caffeine would be bio available to be absorbed by the body, which seems counterintuitive and I can’t seem to find anything backing this up online. However, I do leave my teabags in the cup for the whole cup and I never get a buzz like I do if I have a coffee!

sandydan

coldcake wrote: »

I loved drinking regular Irish tea but now I almost never drink it anymore.

I now drink a cinnamon tea in the morning, brown rice green tea around midday and camomile tea at night and sometimes Barry’s Ginger and Lemon tea.I did hear someone on the radio recently say that the longer you brew tea the less caffeine would be bio available to be absorbed by the body, which seems counterintuitive and I can’t seem to find anything backing this up online. However, I do leave my teabags in the cup for the whole cup and I never get a buzz like I do if I have a coffee!

my parents used leave tea brew (or draw as its referred to around here) for ages, the inside of pot was almost coated to eight inch after a while,but father got perforated ulcer in stomach when in his 70s and doctor told us very strong tea may have been partial culprit and cigarettes ,so that started my avoiding strong tea, when driving i would leave tea bag in cup if i had no spoon but hated it but needed it to combat fatigue bought on by eating bread, thought giving up eating bread was solution to that till weight started falling off at rate of 3 lbs week and stomach started cramping but that's another issue, its also why id never suggest giving up any particular food to anyone , i think anyone going on diet should consult food nutritionist when on diet and especially if a diet you follow suddenly stops working, and certainly not adjusting or tweaking diet. its not diet that may be wrong it may be something simple is needed like **** massage as in fluid retention to get bodies disposal system working again.
i also find if i suddenly go herbal completely my tongue starts to go red hot and prone to ulcerate almost to bleeding point. must experiment with more brands as suggested