What is Caffeine Withdrawal? Can Your Body Really Revolt When You Suddenly Stop Drinking Coffee?

The Truth About Coffee Addiction and Withdrawal

Many people often say that coffee is their spiritual food, a life-saving artifact! This statement is actually not an exaggeration, nor is it being pretentious. For those who drink coffee regularly, suddenly stopping or reducing coffee intake for a day can indeed cause uncomfortable physical reactions.

Once the body becomes accustomed to caffeine, dopamine secretion increases in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that regulates various bodily functions. When dopamine secretion increases in the brain, you feel more excited/happy, while dopamine secretion also affects your desires and sensations. Meanwhile, caffeine intake makes the brain mistakenly believe that an emergency situation is occurring, stimulating the release of adrenaline, which in turn increases your alertness.

What Happens When You Stop Drinking Coffee?

If you suddenly don't drink coffee for a day and give up this happy yet alert feeling, you can, but your body might not agree... According to research in psychopharmacology, caffeine withdrawal symptoms begin to appear about 6 hours after drinking coffee... (You might think you're not addicted to caffeine, but being accustomed to regular caffeine intake is equivalent to addiction, even if you consciously believe you're not that dependent on coffee.) If you can persist in not consuming caffeine after symptoms appear, your body will engage in a battle with you lasting more than 9 days.

On the first day of not drinking coffee/not consuming caffeine, you'll start to feel drowsy, fatigued, and may even experience headaches and dizziness. A recent article in Coffee Workshop also mentioned that the reason people feel sleepy is because adenosine, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, binds with receptors that recognize specific signals. The more adenosine binds with receptors, the sleepier you become.

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, and its presence effectively prevents adenosine from binding with receptors, bringing you temporary alertness. Therefore, when you don't consume caffeine regularly, you'll appear more drowsy than usual, with both body and mind feeling tired, thereby reducing work efficiency. This drowsy and fatigued state will continue until the withdrawal symptoms end.

Physical and Emotional Symptoms of Caffeine Withdrawal

In addition to feeling lethargic, some people may experience varying degrees of headaches. This is because on regular days, caffeine affects the binding of adenosine and receptors, so adenosine habitually increases to counteract caffeine. As a result, when you suddenly don't drink coffee one day, without caffeine's blocking effect, adenosine binds with receptors like it's at a party, dramatically increasing feelings of fatigue, but when you can't sleep, headaches of varying degrees occur.

Besides your brain not adapting, your digestive system may also struggle without coffee. Many people report that after drinking coffee, they soon need to use the restroom because the acidic substances in coffee stimulate gastrin secretion, thereby accelerating gastrointestinal motility. Once your digestive system becomes accustomed to daily coffee promoting motility, and you suddenly stop drinking! Guess what happens? It will definitely cause you constipation... (Digestive system: Serves you right for not drinking coffee, serves you right for not drinking coffee...)

As mentioned above, some people might be able to persist, but the emotional impact is the real reason why people find it so difficult to quit coffee. On the second and third days of not drinking coffee, anxiety and depression begin to appear... Anxiety comes not only from your slower efficiency than usual after not drinking coffee, but also from the imbalance of adrenaline and glutamate, which will give you a lingering sense of anxiety.

Depression occurs because dopamine, glutamate, and norepinephrine are all chemicals that help regulate your emotions. Previously, caffeine maintained their balance. Suddenly without coffee's addition, they try to release more to balance themselves, but without proper guidance, the three become even more imbalanced, making you feel depressed. These symptoms cannot be relieved even by sleep, while anxiety also causes insomnia, making you even more tired the next day.

How to Successfully Quit Coffee

Although caffeine withdrawal is quite torturous, research shows that if everyone can persist for two weeks without consuming any caffeine (including other caffeinated beverages), they will feel like they've become a different person, more relaxed and happy than when drinking coffee daily.

Without the influence of external substances, your own system will return to a state of self-regulation. If you really want to quit coffee, it's recommended to start by reducing daily caffeine intake, allowing your body to slowly accept the process rather than stopping coffee consumption abruptly.

Although coffee is spiritual food, when you feel that drinking coffee still doesn't energize you, you can try spilling your coffee!

Alright, when you truly feel very tired, what you need to do is not increase caffeine intake, but regulate your emotions through more exercise and go to bed earlier to ensure adequate sleep time.

Image source: Internet

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