10 Best Healthy Coffee Alternatives
Or What To Drink Instead Of Coffee
Cutting back on caffeine, coffee, or energy drinks can be hard. Not because we lack willpower, but because caffeine does not want you to give it up.
Caffeine addiction comes with caffeine withdrawal. That’s two weeks (or more) of headaches, fatigue, feeling irritable, anxious, or even having flu-like symptoms while your body adjusts to a new caffeine level.
In fact, caffeine withdrawal can be so bad that 9 out of 10 people that try to change their caffeine habits will just give up and accept their caffeine addiction as “normal”.
Coffee Alternatives: The Alternatives To Coffee That Can Make A Real Difference
So what do you do if you want to cut back on caffeine? The best thing to do is cut back slowly and consistently. You can actually fool your body into never triggering caffeine withdrawal if you do that. Sounds easy right? It’s not.
Here are the top 10 coffee alternatives that people fall back on when they try to change their relationship with caffeine:
10. Watered Down Coffee
Rating: Poor Coffee Alternative For Energy
A lot of people will cut back on their caffeine by watering down their morning (or afternoon cup). But it rarely works.
The caffeine in coffee can vary from cup-to-cup depending on the bean or the brew. Too much caffeine and you trigger caffeine dependence. Too little, you get caffeine withdrawal.
In fact, the way your caffeine bounces around from cup-to-cup may be the reason you got hooked on caffeine to begin with.
9. Decaf
Rating: Poor Coffee Alternative For Energy
Decaf does not mean caffeine free.
Coffee is “decaffeinated” using chemicals to remove the caffeine that naturally occurs in the coffee bean. Some chemicals are better than others and which ones are used will depend on how concerned the manufacturer is with cost or the environment.
To make it even worse, there is no regulation on what decaf means. Some brands actually have more caffeine in their decaf than another brand’s regular. Again, you are still running a high risk of triggering caffeine withdrawal and failing to reduce your caffeine intake in the end.
Take a look at: Decaffeinated Tea – Safe Or Dangerous?
8. Tea
Rating: Decent Coffee Alternative For Energy But Too Much Caffeine
Tea shares many of the same problems coffee does. The caffeine in a bag of tea will vary based on the tea leaves in the blend and how long it is steeped in how water.
This is an alternative that will probably not help easily replace your current caffeine habit with a new one because you can’t easily get the same amount of caffeine every day. That makes cutting back harder not easier.
7. Caffeine Pills
Rating: Decent Coffee Alternative For Energy But Too Much Caffeine
Caffeine pills will help ensure you get the exact same
amount of caffeine in every dose and can be useful in cutting back on caffeine.
However, they may not ensure that you get results fast enough to avoid triggering
caffeine withdrawal symptoms. Since pills must be swollowed and then digested
you are waiting up to 50 minutes for the caffeine in a pill to take effect. That
is almost an hour where the caffeine headaches, fatigue or irritability can
wear you down and make you reach for another cup of coffee.
Also, since caffeine withdrawal can set in only a few hours
after your last cup you might not want all the caffeine in a whole pill late in
the day. This is a real probably when you hit that mid-afternoon caffeine energy slump where you watch the clock and wonder if you can have another cup of coffee and not be up all night. A whole caffeine pill may be too much energy late in the day without losing sleep later. It’s a dilemma.
Take a look at: Do Caffeine Pills Work Better Than Coffee?
6. B Vitamins
Rating: Poor Coffee Alternative For Energy But Good Supplement
B vitamins are a great source of natural energy but they won’t help with caffeine withdrawal. You’ll still have to suffer through caffeine withdrawal symptoms but they can help you feel more energized as you cut back on caffeine.
5. Peppermint Tea
Rating: Poor Coffee Alternative For Energy But Soothing
Peppermint tea is a soothing caffeine-free hot beverage that helps fill the need for hot beverage and has been reported to help with energy levels. Unfortunately won’t help alleviate caffeine withdrawal symptoms but it can help you feel better until the caffeine withdrawal finally passes.
Take a look at: The 8 Most Common Aurora Migraine Triggers Foods
4. Apple Cider Vinegar
Rating: Poor Coffee Alternative For Caffeine Withdrawal
As a non-caffeine energy supplement apple cider vinegar can help balance blood sugar levels and feel better. Again, it won’t help with caffeine withdrawal but it does provide a natural alternative to caffeine stimulation. When drinking apple cider vinegar, always dilute it with something (water is preferred). There are also many gummy and capsule products available on the market as well.
3. Chicory Root "Coffee"
Rating: Feels Like Coffee But Triggers Caffeine Withdrawal
While coffee is brewed from a bean, chicory root is a coffee make from the chicory plant. It is caffeine free and a great “coffee-like” beverage that can help you reset your habits. Because it is caffeine-free you will essentially be going “cold turkey” on the caffeine and it won’t help alleviate or avoid caffeine withdrawal symptoms. But it can help you not feel deprived as you rest your caffeine habit.
2. Water
Rating: Best Coffee Substitue But Won't Help With Caffeine Withdrawal
Dehydration can make caffeine withdrawal seem even worse. So water is actually a good choice no matter what you do. It will help rebalance your body and being well hydrated will stop caffeine withdrawal from being more unpleasant than it already is.
1. CAFFEINEcontrol
Rating: Best Coffee Alternative For Cutting Back Quickly And Easily
Developed specifically to help you cut back on caffeine without triggering caffeine withdrawal it provides results faster than coffee, energy drinks or even caffeine pills for a sweet boost of energy. Giving you a microdose of caffeine that is just enough so you won’t trigger caffeine withdrawal, it lets you quickly and consistently cut back on caffeine the quick and easy way with consistent results you can feel good about.
Reducing Caffeine Can Be Easy
Cut back on caffeine without caffeine withdrawal or brain fog.
Faster and easier than anything you tried before.
Learn more at https://caffeinecontrol.com
Quitting caffeine does not have to mean suffering through headaches, feeling irritable, or moody.
It doesn’t even have to mean giving up coffee!
We’ve taken a more effective approach to energy: a sweet low caffeine candy that dissolves on the tongue that skips digestion, so caffeine works 10x faster than coffee, energy drinks, or even caffeine pills. By delivering a microdose of caffeine super fast, CAFFEINEcontrol lets you reduce caffeine while getting the improved energy and focus you need to get things done. You can quickly and easily kick caffeine addiction to the curb — without caffeine withdrawal!