
Originally Posted by
rousseau

Originally Posted by
rousseau
I'm almost two months into half-caf now, and it looks like coffee has been completely stripped out of my brain's reward system. Half-caf is about the equivalent of a black tea, which really has no punch at all and so coffee is feeling less like coffee, more like coffee flavoured water.
I still get an occasional craving, but they're way less intense and frequent.
Wow, I guess it's been seven months. Totally acclimatized to half-caf now, and a couple weeks ago stepped it up a notch and switched to 40% caf / 60% decaf.
Once I got used to the change it wasn't a big deal, and now my stress levels are much lower. Another benefit is that I can drink coffee at 6pm with no issue.
That's good. The caffeine definitely ups the jitters. Good if you're swinging a pick digging a ditch, bad if you're trying to relax and concentrate.
I also discovered that less caffeine makes me more observant, probably because I'm slowed-down. Even riding a bike I notice I make better, safer decisions.
Unfortunately for me the love of coffee abides even after 13 years. Must be similar to alcoholism or nicotine addiction, seems those reward pathways never forget. I've actually considered trying some again, decaff of course, to see if the system will tolerate it, because many foods I avoided for the past 13 years I am consuming again in small quantities with no ill effects. Some still send me hate mail so I avoid. Plus I recently retired so much of the stress is also gone.
We shall see.