A year ago today I gave up coffee! Gasp! It was the corner stone of my morning but one cup would turn me into a jumpy, blathery, mildly aggressive space case. Only later to feel exhausted. There were other signs that it was hurting more than it was helping. I had adrenal fatigue - which made me feel totally reliant on coffee to get me moving but I was just digging a hole. Wonder what adrenal fatigue looks like? Well, fatigue (duh), body aches, unexplained weight loss, wonky hormone levels, low blood pressure, lightheadedness and hair loss.. Yes, my hair was falling out. My eyebrows were disappearing too. Not great. On top of that I could not focus but I felt so much urgency to do so. Coffee is delicious but ultimately unsettling - for me. It is a drug and my nervous system does not dig it. C’est la vie. I’m not shit talking coffee here but I do have to say that I feel so much better without it and look! I have eyebrows! If any of these things sound familiar to you I want you to know that - just like booze - there is life after coffee and it’s pretty damn good. I realized that what I enjoyed mostly was the ritual, the warmth and the occasionally communal aspect of it. Very similar to the things I enjoyed about booze… The ritual was easy enough to replace. To get my energy up I just started exercising in the mornings. To meet the desire for a warm cup of something - I played around with a lot of different coffee substitutes. Rasa and Choffee are my favorites but right now I am really enjoying hot cocoa. I feel very engaged after I drink it and without any sense of tension or urgency plus it’s delicious. The cocoa powder itself is ultra dark and very grounding. Lately I have been adding a little Turkey Tail mushroom powder to it for bonus points. This one in particular has a lot of benefits - namely it’s immune boosting abilities and gut healing properties. In recovery our guts need some extra love. Our digestive tracts get drowned out with booze and this is where we become deficient and imbalanced. I recommend Turkey Tail to nearly all of my clients as a prebiotic to help wake things up and balance them out.
For those of you that are no fan of the mushroom I want to say that as a powder or tincture they can be added to your meals or beverages and go generally undetected. I promise that in this form they have a very subtle presence that is easily masked. So no need to be yucked out by the fungus amongst us. The benefits can still be yours! I add a teaspoon of Turkey Tail powder to my cocoa and it has a slight bitterness that I would say is comparable to coffee. I balance it out with a little sweetness.
Of course the way we choose to sweeten things can have an unsettling effect as well.. sugar also stresses the adrenal glands. Meaning more trouble for your hormones. Try maple syrup or dates for more rad earthy groundedness along with extra vitamins and minerals like potassium, calcium, b vitamins and magnesium (also found in cocoa) - remember, we talked about the importance and power of magnesium.
The simple act of giving something up that I loved has had some other positive effects. First off, saying no to things is often more fun and empowering than you think it will be. Secondly, not being reliant on an outside energy source is freeing AF. Thirdly (ugh what a strange word, right?), I get to try more things! Experience stuff I would not have otherwise. That is almost always a win.
So I’m curious - what is your relationship with coffee? Have you ever considered giving it up?
