Essay Example on Daily Coffee Drinking: A Need or a Habit?

Drinking caffeinated drinks is, in most cases, a non-harmful habit which is relatively safe. I tend to take coffee in the morning daily; initially, just a cup was enough to make me alert and motivated for the day. Over time more than a cup was needed to maintain the same level of alertness, and so two cups of coffee in the morning would serve this purpose. It became an unwritten law that every morning, I had to take coffee or face a less pleasant day. In addition to the purpose, coffee serves in my life; I love the flavor, the satisfying smell of freshly ground beans as well as the ritual around it. Coffee shops are everywhere nowadays, and most people tend to drink coffee every day just for the ritual of it than the caffeine hit it provides (Butt, 2011). This habit is indispensable because every morning if I don't take coffee, I feel like something is not right, one would compare it to when you lose your smartphone. That uneasiness. Right after drinking coffee ones feels full of energy to engage in various activities, and everything seems okay. Coffee is part of breakfast for those who take a cup religiously every morning.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

In an attempt to quit caffeine consumption from coffee, I tried a ten days experience and maintained a log on it. Before I begin, I must say that quitting coffee sounds easier when said, especially for those who take a cup or more daily. Day one started with a feeling of being tired. I noticed every coffee shop that morning and felt like I should take some caffeinated tea to ease my quitting process. I decided not to and by midday, I was feeling a slight headache, which later intensified into a migraine that made my head feel heavy. I could also feel some abnormally in my heart rhythm. On the second day, I was experiencing aches in my body with my brain hurting. The headache intensified and made me feel nauseated. I did not feel like leaving the house or doing any activity.

On the morning of the third day, the banging headache was still in my head, but I also experience aches in my muscles which started in my lower back and moved to my butt and eventually my thighs. The muscle aches were so intense that I could only focus on them and nothing else. I eventually decided to take some painkillers to ease the pain, and I was wondering if taking a cup or two of coffee would make all this go away immediately. I was also finding it hard to be around other people because I was easily irritated and felt out of place. My stomach felt funny, coupled with general dizziness.

By the fourth day, my legs were hurting so bad that I almost took a cup of coffee, but on a call with my assigned partner who had originally quit caffeine, she mentioned that I should take an apple for energy. It helped reduce muscle aches slightly. Day five seemed promising as the leg aches diminished, and it felt like my body was returning to normal (Jain, et al., 2017). My partner was very helpful in that she made me understand that ditching coffee was not unusual as several people have done it. The night before the sixth day, I slept peacefully like a baby, I honestly never expected this. My energy levels were getting high, and the urge to drink coffee was not that strong, it got better from the sixth day through to the tenth day. I ate a lot of ice-cream with an attempt to find a remedy from my no coffee lifestyle.

When the migraine became intense, my partner advised me that peppermints helped with the headaches, so I religiously had peppermints and true to her word, it helped reduce the intensity of the headaches. What I got to learn is that one ought to find an appropriate distraction to preoccupy themselves with when attempting to quit caffeine. Ice-cream doesn't help. Attempting to quit is not easy, and one easily stops seeing the value in the process. If one cannot entirely stop consuming caffeine, then they should take it in moderation. I suffered from fatigue and headaches for the first three days; I had to fight urges to have a coke or drink coffee frequently. By the fifth day after a lot of perseverance, I learned the beauty of self-discipline. It is because the headaches went away, I no longer felt the urge to drink coffee or have a coke, and my energy level stayed predictable at the same level.

Trying to quit caffeine is difficult, but the benefits that come after eventually quitting far outweigh the cost of quitting. During this ten-day experience, I was so preoccupied with overcoming the challenges of quitting that I seemed to have little time for other things in my life. Some of my friends noticed that I was absent during hangouts. Luckily I felt comfortable conversing with my assigned partner who seemed to have gone through the same process and came out victorious. She understood everything that was happening to me and assured me that it was all part of the experience.

Conclusion

Those people who take more than their fair share of caffeine change their brain on a physical level as well as develop caffeine intolerance. This tolerance can be difficult to shake off. For many people who have caffeinated drinks as part of their consumption habits and cannot stop these habits, they can at least regulate them. One can feel better and more alert after quitting coffee, no more mid-morning energy crash, but the experience of quitting is unpleasant.

References

Butt, M. S., & Sultan, M. T. (2011). Coffee and its consumption: benefits and risks. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 51(4), 363-373.

Jain, S., Srivastava, A. S., Verma, R. P., & Maggu, G. (2017). Caffeine addiction: Need for awareness and research and regulatory measures. Asian journal of psychiatry.