CAFFEINE: A Users Guide!

I'm often asked , 'should I cut down on my caffeine intake?' The immediate answer is yes, of course. Stop drinking coffee and tea. Yeah, right! Much easier said than done.

As a coffee love
myself, not dependent in any way you understand, could give up anytime I like etc., I know how difficult it can be. So here are a few tips for a gradual, less extreme way of scaling down the caffeine levels whizzing round your system.

Firstly, over the next couple of days monitor just how many cups of coffee and tea you are drinking in a day, and at what times. Make a note on a piece of paper and be honest! A pattern will likely emerge.

Now replace every alte
ate cup of coffee or tea with a caffeine free alte
ative. A herbal tea or a coffee substitute, there are a lot of them about, all readily available at the supermarket. Every time you do this feel extremely pleased with yourself and award yourself a tick on your piece of paper.

You might also want to try replacing one of your drinks with a piece of fruit. This can be helpful because: 1) some of the alte
ative drinks can be a bit boring and 2) the amount of fluid in fruit will help quench your thirst without the need for a drink.

Secondly, every time you do have a cup of coffee or tea also drink the equivalent quantity of water. This way you'll be flushing the caffeine out of your system more quickly.

It's surprising how without going 'cold turkey' or causing yourself to panic you can eliminate a high percentage of caffeine from your diet. You'll feel better for it, less anxious, less nervy. You'll get rid of those shakes awful quick. So don't forget follow these few simple tips and you'll be well on your way to making huge inroads into your caffeine intake.

Bye for now and if we should bump into each other at Starbucks, mine's the decaffe! n