The KInd Life Community Forum

No I have not, and I didn't even know there were soy varieties!! I've never noticed them at the grocery store, but next time I will look more. Unless I have to get it at a health foods store. Thank you so much :)

I agree with Chrissekatt. Coffee may very well lower the risk for both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Not giving it up. My father died of Parkinson's so if there's the slightest bit of evidence I'm erring on the side of continued coffee consumption.

I have to admit I also just love it. And it has become much easier to find ethically produced coffee, at least in NYC>

Decaf has as much acid if not more than regular, btw.

I would say to tackle one goal at a time. I personally believe that becoming vegan would be the best goal to tackle. I'm vegan and still drink a lot of coffee with soy milk added instead of dairy milk or creamer. Though drinking excessive amounts of coffee isn't great for your body, there have not been any substantial studies proving that coffee is really that bad for your health. On the other hand, eating animal products is directly linked to increased cholesterol levels, increased blood pressure, and the smorgasbord of Western diseases infiltrating our healthcare system. The best thing you can do for your physical and spiritual health is cut meat and dairy out of your diet and eat a completely plant-based diet. Once you have accomplished this, you could start to consider your caffeine addiction if it is something you feel is holding you back from a fully fulfilled life. If you really love coffee, I say keep Mr. Joe in your life. There are much worse addictions that are actually detrimental to your health. Good luck!

I found a solution here - http://www.tylerscoffees.com/the-difference.html. The coffee is less acidic and won't cause any acid reflux.

Honestly, flirting with veganism is what has helped me kick my caffeine habit. If you take coffee with cream, you may find (as I have found) that there isn't anything you like to replace dairy half-n-half. Every time I try to go vegan, it is coffee creamer that I trip over. I knew that while hooked on coffee, there was no way I could cut out dairy completely, though I rarely consume it otherwise.

As for physically getting over the addiction, I simply started by cutting back. I'd allow myself one small cup of full-caffeine coffee or a in the morning, and one small cup of black tea in the evening (this was a major cut back!), and as much decaf as I wanted through the day. It may have made the process slower than cold-turkey, but it worked better for me, because it took the edge off the headache. Soon, I switched to only black tea or decaf coffee, and then one morning (probably two weeks later), I woke up and was ready to actually eat breakfast, instead of just wanting a cup of coffee!

I'll admit, a big motivating factor is that I want to become pregnant, so I could "do it for my future embryo" when it seemed too hard. Every time I would contemplate my warm beverage choice, I would have to weigh what that cup of coffee was worth. It made me very conscious of my choices. Maybe you could come up with a way to make it not all about improving yourself, if that's not a big enough motivator. Maybe every time you switch a regular cup for a decaf cup, put a few dollars aside to donate to an organization you like (perhaps one that helps animals).

As for needing to go balls-to-the-wall or nothing in terms of health, don't be so hard on yourself! In terms of being vegan, again, maybe try to do it for the animals rather than only focusing on the health aspect, if you tend to get hung up on your imperfections. Doing things for other creatures is a strong motivator for me-- much more so than doing things for myself. Maybe that outlook could help you. Or maybe there is yet another outlook that works for you. Once you figure out your motivators, tailor your goals to work with them, rather than vague ideals like "general health" that may start to seem rather abstract when you're craving that coffee or piece of cheesecake ^_^