Reducing caffeine has had the single biggest impact on my health of all my dietary changes, easily. Ironically it hasn't had much impact on my sleep (which was caused by a different problem), but it has made me a lot calmer, more clear-thinking and astute, less anxious, generally happier, much more reliable energy especially in the morning etc.

Unfortunately despite cutting my caffeine back to nothing on a regular basis, I still end up taking it occasionally due to often sleeping badly (as per today, when I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep) and needing to still be able to work. I still fine caffeine horrifically addictive, in that if I consume some one day, I'll get a pounding headache if I don't have some the next day (so I have to repeatedly taper off), and it's not as though it's just me liking the taste of coffee since atm I'm just having half a caffeine pill when necessary.

Also I can confirm that one's ability to handle coffee does vary wildly, even within the same individual. Before, I used to be able to drink huge amounts of caffeine constantly without ill effects, but increasingly it would just make me jittery and sick.

I found that when I went from 8 cups a day to 2-3 I became a lot calmer and less anxious, and that's continued as I've cut down further to one cup a day at most.

Coffee consumption has been recommended prior to exercise because it increases fat oxidation, but there is a downside to it that I think more than offsets the benefit - dehydration. The dehydration caused by ingesting coffee immediately before an exercise session is likely to lead to a loss in performance. If coffee is consumed well before exercise (i.e., a few hours), this should not be a problem.

It's been 2 months since I stopped drinking coffee. Was doing about 1-2 pots of French Roast every day when I quit. Ramped up since high school - now I'm in my mid 40s. I still have very low energy compared to when coffee fueled. I sleep about 9-10 hours a night. It's a very strange feeling. Almost like I'm on downers. Definitely much less uptight and anxious. Blood pressure dropped a bit; not nearly as much as cutting the grains and carbs. No big effect on blood sugar, despite what the experts say. Big, big change in tooth color. Sparkly white now. Quitting caffeine is one of the better things I've done in a long time. I'd highly recommend it. There is really no downside, unless you like the jacked up feeling.

On the positive vote for Coffee, people with ADHD might find that it calms them down and makes them less anxious.

ADHD drugs are stimulants that increase the brains dopamine activity which is suppressed in people with ADHD. The suppressed dopamine functioning is actually what reduces people with ADHD's focus and makes them hyper. Giving them a stimulant will often calm them down and give them back their attention span because the dopamine function increases. Caffeine has also been thought to have a similar effect to the commercial stuff like Ritalin and Aderol--and it comes in the natural form of coffee.

I found a cool study linking better sleep to stimulant use in people with ADHD which I thought was interesting and counter intuitive to the whole "quitting coffee makes me sleep better" arguement. I used to take espresso naps in college. http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/57718/21126/sleep-adults-adhd

So, my little thesis here is just that quitting coffee may be good for a lot of people, but there maybe some people out there that get a performance boost from coffee in a different way than the regular 'wired' results of others. Letting food be our medicine in true form!

I'm not sure if I can directly link the coffee to this, but I quit drinking it a couple of months ago. In the last couple of weeks I started drinking a few cups in the morning again and seem to be way more irritable now that I started back.

Congratulations! I've never done coffee (don't hit me coffee fans). But I know it has to be addictive, some cannot function without it. I know I was addicted to sugar.

Yeah, congrats for sure. You'll probably feel less tired throughout the day as well. Coffee breath will be a thing of the past. And think of all the money you'll no longer be throwing down the toilet. :-)

I have quit coffee recently too. Lately, I have had an abundance of energy and I stop craving it in the morning. This is such a shift for me because I have had coffee for 25 years. I read somewhere that if you need caffeine for energy than something is wrong.

One of the positive's of not buying coffee is it helps offset the costs of good sources of paleo foods. Sleeping better too.

Dr. Mercola has a short video about Vit. B12. He says the only time he drinks coffee is to help him with jetlag. I have read that vitamin B12 helps food convert to energy and at my age I might not be able to utilize this vitamin very efficiently, but something is working right with my foods, because I am energetic.

I think it is completely healthy to not consume coffee but okay for those that do.

I'm a boomer that has been both a consumer and a abstinence practitioner of coffee. I feel much better when i don't take the drink. Hence, I'm favoring abstinence.