My Doctor Thinks I Should Give Up Coffee

[Jim Koepke]

After triple bypass surgery and then a problem with my GI tract my doctor suggested I give up tobacco, alcohol and coffee. Okay, it wasn't easy but I gave up tobacco over three years ago. I did enjoy a beer now and then or a shot or two of rum, but no more. Coffee is the hard one for me to give up.

Though there has been some progress cutting back, my consumption is down to only one cup a day:

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jtk

[Rich Riddle]

Jim,

Life is much better without coffee.....just keep singing the mantra......

[Brian Henderson]

After drinking a couple of pots of coffee a day for years, I just stopped one day and never went back to it. Getting off the caffeine kick is an amazing thing, I haven't had any coffee in many years and I don't miss it a bit.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have a hard time believing 1 cup of coffee a day will effect one's health.

[Sam Murdoch]

Starts with coffee - then goes to beer - then they add peanut butter to the list. :eek:

I say we are all destined to die. Don't take away my extra crunchy peanut butter :D.

[Patrick Walsh]

I stop drinking and start drinking coffee every 2-5 years. The first two weeks is hell but after that i really do feel like a million bucks and swear ill never drink the stuff again.

I always give in on a nice tropical vacation when i really just want to indulge. I dont take nice vacations often.

[Stephen Tashiro]

. The first two weeks is hell but after that i really do feel like a million bucks and swear ill never drink the stuff again.

.

I'm curious about the ways in which you feel better. What changes? Do you sleep better? Do you feel less anxious?

[Eric Keller]

about 10 years ago, my doctor told me to stop drinking coffee, so I did. A few years later, I decided I missed it, and I wasn't feeling better without it, so I started drinking it again. For the most part, I only drink one cup of caffeinated now, although some days I have a large starbux. I really like drinking coffee, so I consume a lot of decaf. I came to realize that I had a potassium deficiency, and too many cups of coffee made my heart skip beats. Now that I've changed my diet, that is no longer the case. But with my family history of heart issues, I try to avoid raising my blood pressure, and coffee definitely does that. If I had issues I couldn't change with diet, I would drop it in a minute.

[paul cottingham]

Personally, I think you need a new doctor. One that isn't crazy.

No coffee. What's the world coming to?

[Jason Roehl]

I'd get a new doctor. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life! ;)

I've gone off coffee a few times in the last 20 years, but after a month or two, I find that, for one, I really like coffee, and two, that extra boost in the morning helps me get going, no matter how much sleep I've had. I brew straight into a 20 oz ceramic mug, make it pretty strong, and that's usually all the caffeine I have. The big health boost years ago for me was cutting out soda drinking. I might have a few a year now, but not every day.

[Justin Ludwig]

I think I drink so much coffee I've become immune to caffeine. I can have a cup or two in the evening and still sleep like a toddler. I've gone without it, but only in severe situations (Army Officer Candidate school for 60 days) and I didn't like operating from 0400 to 2200 everyday without it. I went from being in the Top 5 for peer ranking during the first 2 weeks to Bottom 10 by the end of it. I attribute that to lack of caffeine coupled with being surrounded by idiots.

[Patrick Walsh]

I dont think most of us realize that coffee is actaully a fairly strong stimulant. I know i did not.

When i stop drinking coffee i have much much more energy. I wake out of bed rip roaring ready to go and i stay that way throughout the day. When i am drinking cofffe my energy level ebbs and flows throughout the day.

The best i can describe it is when drinking coffee i have a underlying chronic case of constant fatigue. The dips in my energy level are at very specific and times throughout the day and undeniable.

The crazy part is you could had never told me this prior to the first time i gave up coffee as i had nothing to comapre it to. Everytime I stop i am amazed all over again. The other thing i am always amazed by is the strong and poweful affect of that first cup of coffee after a couple years. It will send me through the roof bordering on a panic attack. It really feels terrible. It tasts so good though i do it anyway. Im a bit of a coffee snob and looooove good coffee.

With all the above said i drink coffee only first thing in the morning. I make a french press and drink half to 3/4 of it. If doing site work i drink maybe 1/2-3/4 of a large black coffee. Not much when compared to what some drink. I also drink it black.

Also i should add i can drink ten cups of coffee and go right to bed.


I'm curious about the ways in which you feel better. What changes? Do you sleep better? Do you feel less anxious?

[Shawn Pixley]

Jim,

I sympathize with your situation. If your biggest vice is coffee, then you are in pretty good shape.

Personally I wouldn't give up coffee. I have two good cups each morning. And while I have GERD, I do not find that coffee presents any more issues than not. Many doctors would have you living on cold oatmeal (about as benign a food as I can come up with before my coffee). I take Omeprazole daily and still have the coffee. So far, no ill effects in 10 years.

At a certain point, you have to decide for yourself what is important in your everyday life. Change the things that aren't important and adjust to the things that are important.

[michael langman]

I gave up coffee for the last few years at work. I am much calmer and clearer without it. But still miss it at times.
I started it up again for a few years and am now off it for the past few years.
Theirs nothing like a good cup of black coffee, with nothing else in it, as how I always drank it.
The only liquids I drink now is well water. But we have excellent well water.

[Tom Stenzel]

I remember when my Grandmother's doctor would tell her to do this, that and the other thing to stay healthy. She told him to go to blazes and lived to be 99.

I ate oatmeal, drank green tea and exercised. Ended up with bone cancer anyway. After that a healthy lifestlye doesn't have much going for it IMHO.

Haven't had coffee in the last, oh, 15 minutes or so. Half & half or milk in mine. Given a choice of those powdered creamers I'll take it black. The list of ingredients in that powdered junk could have made Kev William's list. Plus it's always sweet. Ugh.

-Tom

[Rick Moyer]

I have a hard time believing 1 cup of coffee a day will effect one's health.
Yep, but as with anything, moderation is the key. Some people drink a lot of coffee and it doesn't seem to bother them while others can't tolerate hardly any caffeine.
Now if I could only apply moderation to my food intake I'd be better off; coffee isn't a problem for me. Some days 12-16oz. many days none at all.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Yep, but as with anything, moderation is the key. Some people drink a lot of coffee and it doesn't seem to bother them while others can't tolerate hardly any caffeine.
Now if I could only apply moderation to my food intake I'd be better off; coffee isn't a problem for me. Some days 12-16oz. many days none at all.


I think we overlook the fact that each of us are different, individual. Take allergies for example. What you may be allergic to may not have any ill consequences with me and vise versa. Moderation and finding out what is right for YOU, is key IMO.

[Brett Luna]

I drink coffee. I drink premium whiskey, beer, and wine. I smoke fine cigars. I cook with pork fat and real butter. When I die, I want to choke on something that tastes good.

More seriously, I'm one of those who doesn't get much of a kick from coffee. I can drink it before bed and sleep no differently than when I don't.

[Bruce Page]

There's an interesting short article in the January 30, 2017 issue of TIME Magazine that suggests that coffee may be a healthy habit and that it appears to help combat aging.

I need all the help I can get.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I generally have 2 cups of coffee in the morning, one at home and one at work about 9:30. Rarely, maybe once every other week I'll a third cup in the afternoon. I enjoy it and it causes no problems. My wife on the other hand has type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Fully caffeinated coffee makes her heart flutter with palpitations. She drinks the Folgers Half Caff without any ill effects. YMMV

[David Helm]

I drink coffee. I drink premium whiskey, beer, and wine. I smoke fine cigars. I cook with pork fat and real butter. When I die, I want to choke on something that tastes good.

More seriously, I'm one of those who doesn't get much of a kick from coffee. I can drink it before bed and sleep no differently than when I don't.

I'm with you. Life is too short to drink bad coffee, bad beer, bad wine or bad whisky. By the spelling you can tell what kind of whisky I am fond of. Only thing I disagree with is the cigars. In terms of coffee, I drink espresso, straight black, from my own machine. Espresso is lower in both caffeine and acid than drip coffee.

[Pat Barry]

ALl they ever do is tell you don't do this or don't do that. Those things are part of living. I gave up smoking (12 years ago). I still would like to light one up but I know I can't without falling back on that habit. Coffee though, as much as I love it and drink it everyday, I feel I could stop -- but I don't think I would. Like I said, that's part of living for me. Take it away and you take away a part of life. Now if it physically hurts you, you know that even without the doctors advice, and I think that means you do need to quit.

[Pat Barry]

I'm with you. Life is too short to drink bad coffee, bad beer, bad wine or bad whisky. By the spelling you can tell what kind of whisky I am fond of. Only thing I disagree with is the cigars. In terms of coffee, I drink espresso, straight black, from my own machine. Espresso is lower in both caffeine and acid than drip coffee.
Like our president says WRONG! None of those things are something you need the best of in order to enjoy. Bad beer is way better than no beer, bad coffee beats the hell out of no coffee! AT least for me.

[Patrick Walsh]

I guess im on the other side of this.

I try amd find other things to reward myself with and look forward to. I look at all my family other than my mother and they are so hyper focused on food and drink as some kind of reward. Seeing that is all i have ever needed to find something with more meaning as a means of satisfaction.

I know this oppinion or rather stance will not be popular. It works for me, each to his own just dont make me do it.

[Wayne Lomman]

Do what suits you. I would hazard a guess that those of you that are on and off it don't suffer too many consequences. Me, I used to drink it all the time. Then the migraines started and I mean migraine 5 days out of seven every week. Doc suggested I go off coffee and guess what - no migraines. It is no effort to avoid it if those are the consequences. However, you could be a health crank and lie there at 96 with no friends, dying of nothing.... Cheers

[Curt Harms]

I think we overlook the fact that each of us are different, individual. Take allergies for example. What you may be allergic to may not have any ill consequences with me and vise versa. Moderation and finding out what is right for YOU, is key IMO.

Well said. I can drink 2 cups of coffee and go right to sleep. Of course in a couple hours bladder will be saying "excuse me but.....:p". SWMBO can't have anything with caffeine after noon if she wants to sleep that night. We did not come off an assembly line and are not identical.

[paul cottingham]

Yeah, coffee doesn't keep me awake at all. I can drink a pot right before bed, and fall right to sleep.

[Brett Luna]

By the spelling you can tell what kind of whisky I am fond of.

I often write it as whisk(e)y and almost did so here but laziness won out. I'm a single malt fan, too. Peat monsters. The "nastier" the better.


Like our president says WRONG! None of those things are something you need the best of in order to enjoy. Bad beer is way better than no beer, bad coffee beats the hell out of no coffee! AT least for me. [emphasis added]

I was going to write something smart-alecky about not mentioning "need" but upon thinking about: I want to enjoy my beer, my coffee, et al so yeah, it needs to be good. Not necessarily the best...I usually can't afford it...but the gooder the better. ;)

[Jim Koepke]

At one time my choice was a lot easier. A lite beer was fine. After time it seemed a waste to drink beer without taste so my choice was to consume less of beers & ales with more flavor.

Coffee has pretty much been the same when making my own at home. A strong brew of Peet's Major Dickason's blend. Many others, single bean or blends, have been tried. My taste buds always seem to turn me back to Major D's blend.

Many restaurant blends taste like nothing more than warm water to me.

BTW, I take mine very black, not so lightly brewed as can be seen through. Same way as I like my dark beers & ales.

Something like Oatmeal Stout, it's not just for breakfast anymore!

jtk

[Mike Null]

My Dad's side of the family all died young. My dad at 43. His brothers and sisters died before 60 except one who was a smoker and alcoholic.

I just passed my 80th and I like my coffee, 2 cups a day, my beer, wine and good whiskey, usually one drink a day. My favorite food is butter. I'll have an expresso now and then after dinner.

I smoked 2 packs a day for about 25 years and quit about 35 years ago. I don't miss 'em now and I'm sure I'm still alive because I quit cigarettes.

[Shawn Pixley]

Like our president says WRONG! None of those things are something you need the best of in order to enjoy. Bad beer is way better than no beer, bad coffee beats the hell out of no coffee! AT least for me.

Pat, I've got to strongly disagree with you here. I would rather have no beer than bad beer. No coffee than bad coffee. I often do choose this way - at parties serving bad beer, I drink water. For me, all domestic mass market beer is bad beer. Most coffee is bad coffee.

Luckily we can both be right and make our own choices.

[David Helm]

Pat, I've got to strongly disagree with you here. I would rather have no beer than bad beer. No coffee than bad coffee. I often do choose this way - at parties serving bad beer, I drink water. For me, all domestic mass market beer is bad beer. Most coffee is bad coffee.

Luckily we can both be right and make our own choices.

Reminds me of when I used to do a lot of road trips. Driving through Utah and feeling the need for coffee. Stopped for some and it was horrible. Best thing I could say is that it was "ruined water".

[Jason Roehl]

Pat, I've got to strongly disagree with you here. I would rather have no beer than bad beer. No coffee than bad coffee. I often do choose this way - at parties serving bad beer, I drink water. For me, all domestic mass market beer is bad beer. Most coffee is bad coffee.

Luckily we can both be right and make our own choices.

I'm partially on board with this. On a rare occasion I'll drink a macrobrew if someone offers me one (I won't buy any), but I definitely can't have very many--ick. As for coffee, first thing in the morning, I'll take what's available. In the rare event that I find myself wanting or needing another cup later in the day, no way am I drinking the nasty stuff. At least many places have made an attempt to improve their coffee in recent years. Even McDonald's serves a much better cup than they used to, and gas stations use premium blends and airpots instead of letting a Bunn pot sit on the burner all day scorching the heck out of their weak version of coffee.

[Ole Anderson]

I have a buddy that drinks coffee infrequently, but has a Pepsi with breakfast to avoid having to brew any coffee. Yuck.