4 Tips To Indulge In Your Coffee Habit Without The Overstimulation
For many of us, drinking coffee has become a ritual, and we're not truly conscious on those awful Monday mornings until the first dose of caffeine. But coffee can also cause overstimulation or jitters, and when that happens, a cup of coffee just isn't as fun or delicious.
What if there was a way for you to have it all? To indulge in your coffee habit without overstimulation? To drink a cup of coffee and not fear jittery anxiousness? Well, it's not impossible.
Whether you drank a cup to stay up studying or if you needed a caffeine kick to get over your 3 p.m. slump, we're sure getting the jitters was never on your agenda. If you've ever felt like you have to give up your coffee habit to save yourself from a raised heartbeat or spiraling session of anxiety, these four tips might help you get back on good terms with your coffee.
Eat before drinking coffee
Every caffeine fiend wants to wake up to a cup of coffee already placed at their feet. The ordeal of getting up and making yourself breakfast sometimes seems like too much without a bit of assistance from our good friend, caffeine. But, if you want to avoid overstimulation, you should (and must) eat something before sipping your first cup of coffee.
Here's the science behind it: By eating first, your body will seek energy from food before it turns to the caffeine you've consumed, which will reduce the rate at which it is absorbed into your body. Plus, drinking coffee before a meal interferes with your body's ability to metabolize glucose. So, make sure you eat something before you indulge in your bean juice.
A meal containing carbs, proteins, and fibers is highly recommended. Avoiding black coffee also helps — make sure to add in a little bit of milk, protein powder, or another supplement if you can.
Take your time with your cup
Gulp-gulp-gulp and out the door — if that's what your morning routine sounds like, your coffee jitters should come as no surprise. Overstimulation happens when you drink too much coffee in too little time — you'll experience an increase in heartbeat, might feel shaky and anxious, and the excess of adrenaline might even make you sweaty. All of this can be avoided by drinking your morning coffee a little slower.
If you simply don't have the kind of time to sit back and indulge in your coffee, we recommend investing in a good travel mug. Another unconventional but practical method would be for you to try drinking your coffee while it's hot — this will prevent you from chugging it down.
So sip-sip-sip instead of gulping. Sit back, inhale, enjoy the aroma, and make sure you're truly savoring the taste of a good cup of coffee.
Go easy on the caffeine
This one sounds quite obvious, but if you are prone to get coffee jitters, maybe it's best if you don't down four cups of coffee before it's 2 p.m.
There's no rule telling you to always go full-caf, and you definitely won't lose any street cred by going half-caf, so there's absolutely no shame in reducing your caffeine intake. Plus, if you already feel the jitteriness coming, put down your coffee cup right away.
Caffeine sneaks its way into a lot of foods and drinks where we least expect to find it. From black tea to energy bars, energy drinks, and sodas, we often unknowingly consume caffeine. So, if your genetics or anxiety levels cause you to react adversely to too much caffeine, look out for caffeine in your daily snacks. Be sure to balance your caffeine intake between coffee and other snacks.
Move around after drinking coffee
Caffeine can trigger our body's fight-or-flight response, which increases our adrenaline. The adrenaline rush can cause us to have a sudden burst of energy, and when we don't use up this energy, that's when we start to feel the coffee jitters. A good way to avoid this is to engage in something physical — stand up at your desk or walk to get the mail or run another errand. When you feel yourself getting worked up and overstimulated by your coffee, simply get physical.
If you can afford to go on a walk or a run, do so. But if you're at work and you can't really start running, you can try simple ways to exercise, like climbing the stairs a couple of times. It's up to you to get creative.
When it comes to coffee, we simply can't with and can't without. So, for those of us who really can't go without a cup of coffee, even with the jitters, these four tips can be a lifesaver.