Caffeine Is My Party Drug

Last January, while out at a birthday party, some girlfriends and I wondered about J Lo’s immaculate appearance at 50 years old. One of the key takeaways, besides diet and exercise of course, was how she doesn’t drink alcohol or caffeine. Since I stopped drinking alcohol, I have personally seen the benefits in my skin and body, but I hadn’t heard about side effects from caffeine. Turns out, "caffeine slows down the rate at which your body makes collagen," explains skin specialist and founder of Nassif MedSpa UK Dr Paul Nassif (source).

Collagen, the protein that makes connective tissue like skin and tendons, stops producing while caffeine is in your system. And, women taking birth control have a significantly prolonged half life of caffeine (study here). Which meant caffeine could be in my system for nearly 12 HOURS. 12 hours of my body not producing collagen! While I do take a collagen supplement, my favorite here, this information threw me for a loop.

Marta Joy's birthday <3

At the time, I was drinking a 150mg caffeine/50mg CBD Zentopia tea while out with friends so I could stay awake while staying sober. Upon further investigation, I learned the way caffeine works is by blocking the receptors in the brain that signal being tired. I wasn’t really more awake, just tricking my brain to stop signaling my tiredness. Around this time I was also experiencing heart palpitations so I decided to experiment with quitting caffeine.

It was SO. HARD. I never thought it would be so difficult to quit caffeine because I didn’t think I was drinking that much of it, aside from my occasional nights out. I haven’t drank coffee since an elimination diet in 2017 so I only ever drank tea. But caffeine withdrawal is a real thing. I was really tired for a couple weeks, major increase in napping, terrible headaches, a surprising bout of insomnia, more cravings for sugar, and a larger appetite in the morning which caused a little bit of temporary weight gain. The withdrawal was so intense, I reconsidered my whole relationship to caffeine.

After 21 days, I started to see improvements. I was napping less overall and had more natural energy throughout the day. I wanted to go back to caffeine, but I felt like there was something magical on the other side if I could experiment a little longer.

Several times I tried different doses of caffeine. First was 15mg of green tea, and it made me feel focused but hot and sweaty with my heart racing. A few weeks later, I ordered an iced tea in the evening to ride all the rides at Disneyland, but it was nearly impossible to sleep that night. Another month later I tried a large dose for a friend’s spring break party and woke up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding super hard in my chest.

Caffeine is a hell of a drug! Through a few more attempts at trial and error, I have found a sweet spot with drinking caffeine for special occasions. I tend to stick to drinks with a range of about 45 - 150mg of caffeine. It’s best to drink caffeine at the start of the night but not the whole night. As a former binge drinker, this was a real lesson.

I also learned there is a little bit of a hangover with caffeine because it’s difficult to fall asleep! So I would be super tired the next morning and crashing from caffeine withdrawal. It’s important to account for weaning off the day after and then getting a great night's sleep the next night. Weaning off the next day makes it kind of fun, too because I never get to have a caffeinated tea in the morning except for the mornings after I’ve gone out. This also pretty much requires it be the weekend so I don't feel tired and irritable at work.

Drinking caffeine for nights out with friends has made it feel like a fun, exclusive party. While some folks are partying (with caffeine) all day long, as a friend joked, I have struck a balance with using caffeine as my party drug. Many sober friends switched from alcohol to caffeine for going out to birthday parties, holidays, weddings, etc. It actually makes it easier to find non-alcoholic drinks!

Here are some of the benefits I’ve experienced reducing caffeine:

• wake up feeling more alert

• more alert throughout the day

• relying on my body’s natural ability to calm down

• dewey, more youthful skin

• more in tune with being genuinely tired

• reduced startle response

• reduced heart palpitations

• less reliance and addiction to adrenaline (this should help the kidneys, too!)

• even keel attitude

• less irritability

• more present and connected

How many milligrams of caffeine are you drinking daily? It’s ok if you’re not tracking on this at the moment, I wasn’t. But it could go into your arsenal of awareness. Have you ever tried to stop drinking caffeine? I would definitely recommend weaning yourself off instead of going cold turkey if it's something you want to try. Every sober journey is different and only you know what's right for you. Reach out @macjayallday, or subscribe below, if you have any questions.