Here’s What Happens When You Stop Drinking Coffee

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Bella Breakdown

Coffee may seem like a gift from the heavens above, but there may come a time when you feel you need to cut back. While experts may advise you to take the caffeinated drink out of your diet no one tells you what exactly happens to your body when you do. Until now.

Whether you want to admit or not, caffeine is a drug. Which means going cold turkey from drinking coffee isn’t going to be quick and easy. The side effects of quitting coffee will affect you by the first few hours of the day when you start getting the usual caffeine-withdrawal headache.

When you drink coffee, caffeine will bind to the adenosine receptors in your brain. Adenosine is what makes you feel sleepy, however, when you cut down on caffeine the adenosine receptors fire up in search of the missing chemical. More receptors trigger an increase in blood flow to the brain, “and that dilation of blood vessels makes your head hurt.

Over the next few days, you will want to run to your coffee maker in order to get your caffeine fix. However, if you’re staying strong then you will start to experience fatigue, constipation and on rare occasions flu-like symptoms.

If you want to kick your habit without the headaches or irritability, experts recommend a gradual approach. That might means walking your usual four-cup habit back by half a cup every few days or swapping the strength for half-decaf. The longer you can stretch out the transition, the fewer symptoms you’re likely to experience.