If you're anything like me, you can't get started without a morning coffee. I love coffee......I mean really love it! When I was at University I use to drink way too much coffee everyday. Sometimes up to 6 full strength machine brewed cups per day.
I know people that drink many more than this, and some even drink up to 20 cups of instant everyday. That is simply not healthy. There is always a new study coming out telling us how either coffee is actually bad for us, and can cause all sorts of problems with our body and mind, or.....it's telling us it's actually a wonder food.
For me, coffee has been a staple of my life for over 20 years, and I'm certainly not going to remove it from my diet completely. I do believe there are many health benefits. But.....what I did do was swap out my coffee consumption and replaced it with Curavita Green Boost green juice for a week.
Changing My Coffee Habits
To be honest, the first morning I decided to not have a coffee, it was actually rather difficult. I didn't realise how habitual it had become. Almost like a robot. I had decided the night before that I was going to start the next morning.
When I got up though, I found myself going straight to the coffee machine, and I was starting to make my coffee, before I actually stood back and said "hang on....stop". I turned around and made myself a glass of green juice instead.
Day 1:
I really love our green juice, so it wasn't difficult to gulp it down. Generally I have my juice in the evenings, so this was a little different for me. I then went outside and did some exercise. What I did notice after about the first hour that I seemed wide awake and bright, more so than my normal routine. Was this simply because I wasn't experiencing that coffee dump?
Or was I actually seeing the benefit of hydration and boost from the juice. In hindsight I should of started just by removing coffee in the morning. Too late now.
Day 2:
I woke up on day 2 craving coffee. I almost gave in, but didn't. I made my green juice, this time with some sparkling water. I wasn't feeling that hungry so I just had an apple, instead of my normal porridge or toast. Again I went outside to do some exercise, and today I had serious energy. I wasn't experiencing the downer I had the day before.
Keep in mind I hadn't had coffee now in about 36 hours, so it should be completely out of my system by now. By about lunch time I still wasn't all that hungry, so I had a small toasted sandwich and some water, and that took me through to dinner time without feeling those hunger pains at all.
Day 3:
By now I was starting to notice that I was sleeping better. I generally wake up once or twice during the night, and I'm pretty sure that this night I didn't wake up at all. I was actually feeling rather tired, but I wonder if this was because I slept so deeply. I grabbed my green juice, and then jumped on my mountain bike and went for a quick 10 or 15 km ride. I felt fine, but nothing jumped out at me as obviously different than normal.
Day 4:
Not only was I sleeping better, I certainly was eating less and not feeling anywhere near as hungry. Normally by about 3pm on a week day after a productive morning, I would grab a snack. I actually got through to the evening meal time and realised I hadn't eaten anything all afternoon.
Day 5, 6, & 7
The last 3 days of the experiment essentially continued on the same, with good energy and brightness, less hunger, and good productivity. I was getting into the routine of not drinking coffee in the morning, or at all during the day. I was also finding that my morning exercise was less strenuous, even though I was going pretty hard. I felt no where near as "spent".
Conclusion
Certainly I saw noticeable benefits. Mainly being less hungry, and having more energy that continued right through the day. Stupidly I didn't weigh myself before or after the experiment, but certainly I felt like I has lost a bit of weight and felt leaner. The problem with what I had completed is that it's difficult to know it the differences were from simply removing coffee from my diet, or the the benefits of the green juice.
My thoughts are it's a combination of both. In my next experiment I simply will remove coffee. For now though I'm back having a coffee in the morning. Simply I love it to much, and I have my green juice in the evening. I still feel great. I have though reduced my coffee intake during the rest of the day and generally now keeping it to only 1 per coffee day.