yerba mate is actually quite potent with caffeine…and you can get addicted to it just like coffee or tea…proceed with caution…though it seems that you would be inclined to do that in any case!
But I find that my mental health is much more grounded if I do not drink it. For me, it is a very strong mind altering substance. The physiological effects are also very intense for me. So, since I prefer being as grounded as possible, I avoid not only coffee but any beverage that contains caffeine.
It really – really helps my mental state to avoid caffeine.
Anyone who has problems with anxiety or similar conditions would be wise to stop consuming it. I consider this to be a very basic step toward being proactive in controlling my anxiety related problems.
When I was working as a counselor, and especially when doing vocational evaluations, I could easily tell when caffeine was a substance that someone would be wise to consider avoiding. To some of us it is an incredibly strong substance.
There are times when I would like something that gives me a little boost. So, I will occasionally have a cup a joe or a coke or whatever. But, as a rule it is in my best interest to avoid it.
Im currently trying a tea called Yerba Mate that is supposed to have small amounts of caffeine – if you consume a tea made with at most 1 teaspoon of the herb. Im finding that it gives me a little boost when I would like it – without the strong effects that I get from coffee.
I cannot watch the video right now, but I’ve been wondering about my Caffeine intake.
I’ve noticed that I cannot get really “started” without a hit of diet soda (not a coffee guy). If I don’t have my fix, I end up getting massive headaches…
I’m going to phase this out as I would like to see what effects it really has.
Sue,
green tea is what I use when I need to be uber functional because even IT makes me high…
so since I’m housebound if I really really have to go somewhere or if I have to have a intense phone conversation with one of my co-workers etc…then I have a cup of green tea…a cup of coffee would put me through the roof…the green tea helps give me a bit of a lift…but if I did it daily I would lose that so I save it for special occasions…
and sometimes the crash kicks my ass and sometimes it doesn’t …it’s a bit of russian roullette…but it’s the only natural drug I will use..
chocolate—I’ll have one bite of bittersweet about every 3 months!! I don’t feel it at all…strangely enough I don’t seem sensitive to it…
once about a year ago I was at my sisters and binged on chocolate…for me that means a whole brownie and a couple of pieces of bittersweet…lots of sugar and chocolate and no reaction…I was utterly shocked, but I won’t try it again either…I figure I got away with something!!
then again I’ve never had an issue with sugar …cutting out sugar was not hard…
coffee very very hard…
I think what we are truly addicted to are the things that are best gotten rid of and since I never had a sweet tooth to begin with it still isn’t a big deal.
Bravo! I’m with you on this one. Caffeine is another thing that pushed me into migraine-land. Even one cup of green tea a day! Now I can have a bite of chocolate or too, but I stay away from those warm liquids.
This is about as tough a one to talk about as wheat and dairy. People get very defensive. We are dealing with physical addictions. Paraded as nutrition or harmless vices.
Hi Doe!!
I miss you so much!!
yeah, I definitely find it helps the withdrawal…and I do recommend people who are withdrawing stop coffee in general…it causes mood fluctuations and anxiety and so some of that can ease up if you’re in withdrawal…
I got so hard-core sensitive to caffeine after I quit…I used to drink up to 10 or 12 cups a day!! BUT before drugs I couldn’t tolerate it either. It made me really high…
and now it does again…I get like I’m on speed if I have coffee and it ain’t pretty…it’s really ugly…we’re talking out of control rapid speech and stuff…
so I know for me it just ain’t good.
my girlfriend who is staying with me a natural holistic doctor quit coffee within the year…she has no history of psych meds or mental health issues and she too, now, cannot tolerate it…it tweaks her out…
I just think if everyone truly quit after years of consumption and then drank a cup of coffee after being clean for a good long time they might be truly shocked at how potent a drug they are consuming…
we are all different but I think most people would be quite surprised, because we all start out light drinkers, build tolerance and after a while don’t know that we’re just sustaining an addiction.
it’s not a moral issue or even as issue of “vice” as Mark called it. I don’t think any less of anyone who drinks coffee, or smokes cigarettes or whatever…I just think it’s nice to know what we’re doing to our bodies and frankly it’s been a shocking education for me…
to find out all these drugs mess with me in ways I don’t like…legal and illegal.
I still drink coffee and so far seem to remain unwilling to give it up. But I’m thinking about it more and more, and becoming curious about what I would feel like without it. It’s weird, but when Spring and Summer come around, I crave coffee less, and it in face feels “wrong” to drink it. I can almost hear my body saying “Please no….”. I don’t know why that would be the case more in those seasons. Also, back before I was totally addicted to caffeine, in my early 20’s, my body would tell me it did NOT want coffee during my period. And I listened back then and didn’t drink it during that time. I found it made my cramps worse. I remember when I first started drinking coffee, around 18 or 19 years of age (I’m 40 now), I would definitely feel like I’d done crack or cocaine. So I guess I’ve become so habituated to it that I don’t get that effect. My caffeine use is probably mild compared to most (one or two cups a day…although it is strong coffee!), I think I am probably sensitive to it, judging from those early times.
My logic now I sense a little rationalization going on: My thought is, I’m going through drug withdrawal, and it’s really tough. I want to handle going off one drug at a time. But perhaps my drug withdrawal would be made easier if I were off the caffeine?
At any rate, if I”m going to do it, it would be best to do it during this season, when my body doesn’t really want it anyway. In the Spring and Summer it leaves a harsh, bitter taste in my mouth…I seem to want cleaner, lighter foods during this time.
and by the way I think the DSM is bullshit as anyone who reads this should know and I think her talking about the DSM is to be facetious and make a point about how ridiculous psychiatric diagnosis is…
and her info in the video seems pretty damn well-researched.
you go ahead and do whatever you want Mark…I offer info here that has helped ME…
that’s all…don’t know why you have to set it up as a disagreement??
you can’t disagree logically when I say getting rid of coffee helped ME more than I can say?? It’s my experience. I’m not talking about anyone else’s experience.
almost everyone I know and love drinks coffee and I have no desire to change their behavior—people are free to do as they will.
I share what has helped me feel better because I think others with similar histories may find it helpful. What anyone does with the info is their own business.
Well I still like coffie in the morning, so I have to disagree with you Gianna.
We can have some (mild) vices in our lives I think. Without some sin , how do you know you are alive?
yerba mate is actually quite potent with caffeine…and you can get addicted to it just like coffee or tea…proceed with caution…though it seems that you would be inclined to do that in any case!
thanks for sharing John.
I love coffee – everything about it.
But I find that my mental health is much more grounded if I do not drink it. For me, it is a very strong mind altering substance. The physiological effects are also very intense for me. So, since I prefer being as grounded as possible, I avoid not only coffee but any beverage that contains caffeine.
It really – really helps my mental state to avoid caffeine.
Anyone who has problems with anxiety or similar conditions would be wise to stop consuming it. I consider this to be a very basic step toward being proactive in controlling my anxiety related problems.
When I was working as a counselor, and especially when doing vocational evaluations, I could easily tell when caffeine was a substance that someone would be wise to consider avoiding. To some of us it is an incredibly strong substance.
There are times when I would like something that gives me a little boost. So, I will occasionally have a cup a joe or a coke or whatever. But, as a rule it is in my best interest to avoid it.
Im currently trying a tea called Yerba Mate that is supposed to have small amounts of caffeine – if you consume a tea made with at most 1 teaspoon of the herb. Im finding that it gives me a little boost when I would like it – without the strong effects that I get from coffee.
Hope you all are having great day,
John
I cannot watch the video right now, but I’ve been wondering about my Caffeine intake.
I’ve noticed that I cannot get really “started” without a hit of diet soda (not a coffee guy). If I don’t have my fix, I end up getting massive headaches…
I’m going to phase this out as I would like to see what effects it really has.
Sue,
green tea is what I use when I need to be uber functional because even IT makes me high…
so since I’m housebound if I really really have to go somewhere or if I have to have a intense phone conversation with one of my co-workers etc…then I have a cup of green tea…a cup of coffee would put me through the roof…the green tea helps give me a bit of a lift…but if I did it daily I would lose that so I save it for special occasions…
and sometimes the crash kicks my ass and sometimes it doesn’t …it’s a bit of russian roullette…but it’s the only natural drug I will use..
chocolate—I’ll have one bite of bittersweet about every 3 months!! I don’t feel it at all…strangely enough I don’t seem sensitive to it…
once about a year ago I was at my sisters and binged on chocolate…for me that means a whole brownie and a couple of pieces of bittersweet…lots of sugar and chocolate and no reaction…I was utterly shocked, but I won’t try it again either…I figure I got away with something!!
then again I’ve never had an issue with sugar …cutting out sugar was not hard…
coffee very very hard…
I think what we are truly addicted to are the things that are best gotten rid of and since I never had a sweet tooth to begin with it still isn’t a big deal.
Bravo! I’m with you on this one. Caffeine is another thing that pushed me into migraine-land. Even one cup of green tea a day! Now I can have a bite of chocolate or too, but I stay away from those warm liquids.
This is about as tough a one to talk about as wheat and dairy. People get very defensive. We are dealing with physical addictions. Paraded as nutrition or harmless vices.
Sue
Hi Doe!!
I miss you so much!!
yeah, I definitely find it helps the withdrawal…and I do recommend people who are withdrawing stop coffee in general…it causes mood fluctuations and anxiety and so some of that can ease up if you’re in withdrawal…
I got so hard-core sensitive to caffeine after I quit…I used to drink up to 10 or 12 cups a day!! BUT before drugs I couldn’t tolerate it either. It made me really high…
and now it does again…I get like I’m on speed if I have coffee and it ain’t pretty…it’s really ugly…we’re talking out of control rapid speech and stuff…
so I know for me it just ain’t good.
my girlfriend who is staying with me a natural holistic doctor quit coffee within the year…she has no history of psych meds or mental health issues and she too, now, cannot tolerate it…it tweaks her out…
I just think if everyone truly quit after years of consumption and then drank a cup of coffee after being clean for a good long time they might be truly shocked at how potent a drug they are consuming…
we are all different but I think most people would be quite surprised, because we all start out light drinkers, build tolerance and after a while don’t know that we’re just sustaining an addiction.
it’s not a moral issue or even as issue of “vice” as Mark called it. I don’t think any less of anyone who drinks coffee, or smokes cigarettes or whatever…I just think it’s nice to know what we’re doing to our bodies and frankly it’s been a shocking education for me…
to find out all these drugs mess with me in ways I don’t like…legal and illegal.
I still drink coffee and so far seem to remain unwilling to give it up. But I’m thinking about it more and more, and becoming curious about what I would feel like without it. It’s weird, but when Spring and Summer come around, I crave coffee less, and it in face feels “wrong” to drink it. I can almost hear my body saying “Please no….”. I don’t know why that would be the case more in those seasons. Also, back before I was totally addicted to caffeine, in my early 20’s, my body would tell me it did NOT want coffee during my period. And I listened back then and didn’t drink it during that time. I found it made my cramps worse. I remember when I first started drinking coffee, around 18 or 19 years of age (I’m 40 now), I would definitely feel like I’d done crack or cocaine. So I guess I’ve become so habituated to it that I don’t get that effect. My caffeine use is probably mild compared to most (one or two cups a day…although it is strong coffee!), I think I am probably sensitive to it, judging from those early times.
My logic now I sense a little rationalization going on: My thought is, I’m going through drug withdrawal, and it’s really tough. I want to handle going off one drug at a time. But perhaps my drug withdrawal would be made easier if I were off the caffeine?
At any rate, if I”m going to do it, it would be best to do it during this season, when my body doesn’t really want it anyway. In the Spring and Summer it leaves a harsh, bitter taste in my mouth…I seem to want cleaner, lighter foods during this time.
and by the way I think the DSM is bullshit as anyone who reads this should know and I think her talking about the DSM is to be facetious and make a point about how ridiculous psychiatric diagnosis is…
and her info in the video seems pretty damn well-researched.
you go ahead and do whatever you want Mark…I offer info here that has helped ME…
that’s all…don’t know why you have to set it up as a disagreement??
you can’t disagree logically when I say getting rid of coffee helped ME more than I can say?? It’s my experience. I’m not talking about anyone else’s experience.
almost everyone I know and love drinks coffee and I have no desire to change their behavior—people are free to do as they will.
I share what has helped me feel better because I think others with similar histories may find it helpful. What anyone does with the info is their own business.
Well I still like coffie in the morning, so I have to disagree with you Gianna.
We can have some (mild) vices in our lives I think. Without some sin , how do you know you are alive?