Coffee: my nemesis

[bellabella]

Hi everyone
I'm back and on day 2 again of 100% raw. Once I found raw, I haven't stopped trying, and each trip around is a new learning experience...so I like to think thatone day I will sustain my raw lifestyle. Anyway, I'm really so tired in the mid-afternoon and am SO craving my mornign coffee....

I wonder, is it possible to have all the benefits of raw while still drinking 2 coffees a day? is coffee that bad???? Would this mean you aren't 100% raw? (I drink it black)...I drive around allover the city instructing yoga, and that afternoon boost feelings like a blessing......

is this something that can be okay in a tiny moderated amount??

[bodaflower]

You know, I have never ever been a coffee drinker but I started drinking it a few days ago and I could tell quickly it was going to be something I really wanted a lot of

I am not 100% raw but just started a fast so that would eliminate the coffee for me

Personally I think you should do whatever feels good for you - if that means being raw and drinking some coffee, I say do it! Others may be able to provide more information on coffee, as I don't know a whole lot about it

the same goes for drinking tea or using cooked condiments or whatever

It's just a personal experiment, you've got to see how different things make you feel

Good luck :)

[bellabella]

Thanks Boda...
Moderation...but I know that you get the results on RAW with 100%....that I know....then it's the decision between sprouted or organic (so much more expensive)...I'll do what I can for today, I guess :)

[lore-ah]

I haven't had a Diet Coke in two weeks; that was like my crack. Just don't turn out like how I was; having 5 fixes throughout the day and then taking an entire WEEK to get it out of your system.

Man, I want a Diet Coke just talking about it :(

[bellabella]

Lore-Ah
I feel your pain. I was a hard core coffee addict, at about a pot a day. ANd then I went to a traditional indian ashram...where no caffeine was allowed, and which I DIDNT KNOW...sO I spent the entire three days with SCREAMING headaches and bitchiness from hell. I swore Iwouldn't go back...and now, I've just started having the odd one when I'm really exhausted....
it's a powerful addiction, wow!

[Shell]

Hey bellabella! I don't know about coffee being "ok"....I'm not an expert by any means! But I CAN tell you how I kicked my habit.....I started to substitute decaf. I started with half and half....half decaf, half regular. Then, when I could handle that, I switched to all decaf.....then, eventually, I drank tea, then after that, herbal teas (or "infusions") without caffeine. It worked for me, so it may work for you! Oh, and the decaf I used was Swiss Water decaffeinated.

[tepiglet]

I can really sympathise/empathise with your dilemma.
I too feel your pain.
Once upon a time,I was a hard-core cappuccino,latte,cafe au lait,mixed frappuccino,double double etc. addict myself.
You name it,I imbibed it,as long as it was sugary,creamy and full of caffeine and coffee goodness!
I still have a hard time resisting the urge,when I walk or drive by a Tim Hortons,when I smell the fresh coffee brewin'.
I've quit drinking coffee more times than I care to count;it does get easier,though.
People think I'm exaggerating,when I tell them how hard it was for me to quit.
My husband drinks coffee most week- days,but he can go without,cold turkey for days or weeks on end,without any side effects;whereas, I get severe headaches,nausea,and other unpleasant withdrawal symptoms every time I've quit,within hours,if I miss my daily 'dose'.
I was on this 'roller coaster' for years,despite the severe digestive upset and other symptoms,that I would get from excess coffee consumption.

I was finally able to quit,when I substituted Yerba Mate for the coffee.
Eco-teas makes a brand that is air dried at low temperatures,and is therefore
raw.
I cold brew it,or you could use tepid tap water,if you want.
Then,I add fresh grapefruit juice,lime juice,and usually some fresh mint leaves.
Then,I sweeten it with stevia and/or some agave syrup to taste.
This is sooo refreshing and delicious.
If you want to make it more coffee-like,you can add some homemade almond or hemp mylk,and add raw cacao or carob to the mylk .
Raw cacao or carob brazil nut milk adds a mocha type of taste to the drink.

You could always try to quit cold turkey,but if you're as hard core coffee addict as I was,then don't torture yourself.
Yes,Yerba Mate does contain some caffeine,but it's in a much milder form,and
unlike coffee,it doesn't give the jitters,nervousness,or stomach upset that coffee used to give me.
In fact,it is very helpful to those with digestive/stomach upset,and is very high in nutrients,minerals,phytochemicals, and antioxidents.
After switching from coffee to Yerba Mate,you could always gradually decrease the amount,until you're weaned off all caffeine completely.
It's up to you.
Best of luck.
You can do it!

[Green Life]

I drink Coffee. Organic and decaf (swiss water processed).

I use nut milk and stevia or honey in my coffee, too.

I don't count coffee and tea necessarily 'food', so I believe it's O.k. for ME,.

Everyone is so different, but I have noticed a remarkable change in my eating all raw and still doing coffee and tea.

[Eva]

I was a coffee addict (hard core), and I quit when I first went raw. I went through a lot of pain in the first couple days (I was so nauseous that I really almost went to the ER!!!). I have been on and off 100% raw too (so tough sometimes to stick with it even though I know it is right and better), but I have stuck to the no coffee for the most part. I never realized how much anxiety it created in me until it was gone. Coffee is not good for you at all...

Green smoothies really do the trick for me on most days to get me moving without letting me down, but when I need it here and there I'm okay with tossing the cacao into a banana smoothie. :)

I agree that Yerba mate is more mild and has a better after effect, but it does contain enough caffeine that it's not something to sneeze at. That, mixed with peppermint tea if you like it, is a fantastic and tasty transitional drink that I might have used if I had it to do over. I used to use that when I had to study or read in the late afternoon and I wanted the caffeine but no belly ache or late night of no sleeping. White tea has a touch of caffeine (almost nothing) and is really healthy. I don't even consider that one a slipup as I don't feel any after effects whatsoever. It does have a ridiculous amount of antioxidants.

My mom also recently dropped coffee after 30+ years, and she has commented (and she sounds) that she is more at peace even though she has had much turmoil in her life recently.

Good luck. Coffee's a tough one to knock if you're up for it. If I can do it (having worked at Starbucks for five years and had CRAZY :eek: amounts of caffeine regularly) you can do it, though!

[luckitri]

Coffee rots your bones. Stresses your adrenal glands too. I am just realizing that coffee is probably what caused me the loss of my adrenal gland as well as the severe osteoporosis I am suffering now. I started as a kid using it to disguise the nasty flavor of the water of the city I lived in.

[RowanC]

Every single person on earth has different bodies with different reactions to different foods. I think each person just has to decide for themselves what works and what does not, and what percentage "raw" they are not only willing, but able to accomplish.

Any increase in percentage is a good thing, to me.

Personally, I'm having enough trouble just staying on 99% raw right now, without taking away my coffee, which I love.

Every morning, before the rest of the world is awake, I drink 1.5 cups of coffee while I read my BOTA lessons.
It is a wonderful, quiet time I enjoy immensely and have no plans on giving up.

For me, a much larger problem is staying raw while maintaining close relationships with my grown children and their families (which relationship evolves often around family get-together dinners)

I say if you enjoy the coffee and you're raw otherwise and you don't have osteo problems... ::shrug:::

[Maria]

I never drank much coffee, maybe 2 mugs a day. I quit on Xmas Day 2005 (when I strated on raw. It was my Xmas present to myself,) and haven't had any desire to go back. I did have awful detox symptoms for about 3 days. My body feels a lot more peaceful and level without coffee.

On occasion I will drink Yerba Mate (love the stringent flavor) with stevia, or the odd cup of green tea.

When I get the blahs, I eat something and my energy comes back up. Maybe it's a blood sugar thing.

Maria

[bellabella]

I thoroughly appreciate each and every one of these encouraging responses. THANK YOU

[Raw Mom]

....but I'm not a coffee drinker. Love the smell of it, but not the taste. However, the other day I made a green smoothie and it tasted like coffee!!
Crazy, huh? Here are the ingredients.
handful of collards
handful of spinach
one frozen banana
1-2 cups water
flax oil shot
a few frozen strawberries.

Whir away in the vitamix or whatever..... I swear.... I was teaching yoga and I kept thinking someone had been drinking coffee cause the room smelled like it to me. When in fact, it was my green smoothie!!!

[dani_b]

There is a drink by Maca Magic called Macafe that can be used for a coffee substitute. It actually tastes really good. It's not raw though, but it is way healthier than coffee! It is energizing, but does not contain any caffeine. It is alkalizing and helps strengthen/repair adrenals while coffee is acidic and weakens the adrenals. It is simply roasted maca. Maca is a mineral-rich superfood. There are some new products they have that are maca chai coffee substitutes and smoothie mixes. Theres even a greens version that has wheatgrass. There is no sugar or bad ingredients, just herbs. Check it out at macamagic.com.
I am also in the process of quitting coffee drinks and I think the maca drinks really help as well as the yerba mate. I've quit before and it's a lot worse if you do it all at once. I got some really bad headaches and had no energy. It worked better for me to switch to yerba mate and then green tea and then no caffeine.

[TheAvocadess]

Hi,

Coffee is a cooked food and if you are using it, you are ingesting cooked food. Coffee was my crack too. It interfered with my sleep, is acidic, and delpetes us of many vitamins and minerals. Revvell just mentioned it on Rawkin Radio as a serious diuretic.

It BAD. I won't be having it again and I feel SO much better for being 100%.

Just my 2 cents. It's interesting how we make excuses to label cooked food ok because we're drinking it and not eating it. If it's going into our bodies and it's cooked:( (roasted coffee beans) we aren't 100% raw.

I would worry about the loss of fluid (diuretic), vits, and minerals and eventual cravings from your body trying to balance the loss.

Love,
The Avocadess

[Dj 247]

I am reading David Wolfe's book eating for beauty and he suggest that if you take in an acidic food that you should counter it by taking in an alkaline food to create a balance. Also most people are mineral deficent and need to build up the minerals in the body and this will help with cravings. I have an coffee addiction myself and I can go along time not drinking coffee and then I give in and drink some and I am right back on it. I think everyone here knows that coffee is not the best thing to drink. David Wolfe also writes that soda is the worst of the worst to consume. I feel what I do most of the time is more important then what I do some of the time. I can't say I will never drink coffee again or my "monkey" mind will have me running to the coffee shop. Just like saying I am going to go 100% raw leads me to eat cooked food.

[TheAvocadess]

Not if you want to be 100% raw. As Revvill has said on Rawkin Radio, coffee is a diuretic. It robs you of valuable vits & minerals. Not to mention what it does to adrenals. :( It's also a cooked food. Beans are roasted at high temps.

I was quite a Starbucks regular. No more. I have to wonder if those who insist on keeping addictions like caffeine will eventually crave cooked because of the loss of nutrients and that causes imbalance.

Just my 2 cents, but I'd stay away from it.




is this something that can be okay in a tiny moderated amount??

Love,
The Avocadess

[eachpeachpearplum]

Hey!

Here are my two bits; I have "quit" caffeine several times OK, many times over the years. I love coffee and being English, tea too.

Each time I have quit it has been painful, not so painful and totally painless.

How? The first time I just did it cold turkey - thought I was going to die; shakes, tremors, sweats, cast my accounts and lets not even say the big "H" word!

The second time I did it over a period of two weeks. Every two days I cut decaf into my caffinated ground coffee (at home) and by the end of the two weeks I was off caffinated with very little suffering.

The last symptom free time was RAW. I started my days with a very green smoothie and low and behold the need/desire for coffee dissapeared:eek: !! I kid you not. Not after a few days or a week but immediatly after drinking and I remember this because I had my coffee all ready to drink for when I finished my smoothie and did not want it!

The greens and fruit combo provided just what my body need. My body sings after having them.

There are many threads here about the power of green smoothies and it's effects on caffeine/coffee addiction and I cannot vouch for them (green smoothies)enough.

However. . . I have found that I very much miss the ceremony of afternoon tea & biscuits. So I now have an extensive collection of herbal / green teas to suit my every mood. Yes I know green tea is caffinated and that I use boiling water but I am fine with that!:p

I am still working on recipes for shortbread and HobNobs to go with my tea time!:rolleyes: [/COLOR]

[sciencegal]

Hmm....It's interesting to note that caffeine causes cravings for cooked food-I'm inclined to agree. I have quit coffee before and felt sooooo much better-When I don't have it, the cravings for sugar disappear IMMEDIATELY!!!So now that I know that, WHY am I having such a hard time giving it up when I have done it BEFORE with no problems????:confused: :mad: It's driving me crazy and I gotta stop the madness- Ido want to be 100% raw!! Sciencegal:mad:

[TheAvocadess]

It's not easy, but you can! Maybe have a green smoothie instead and come here to read new posts? That's what I do. Gotta change the focus! You can do it!!!

Love,
The Avocadess

[lydias]

my husband drinks ganoderma coffee or gano cafe
its high quality coffee run with the Reishi mushroom and so it ups the ph to 7 and only has like 8mg. per of caffiene per packet.
Tastes as good as coffee and also gives benefits of the ganoderma or Reishi mushroom which is what actually uplifts you. They also have it in tea.

It is not raw but it is great for weaning off and a healthier choice.

If anyone wants to know more I can email you. It is also a pyramid thing but I dont want to be promoting the wrong thing here.