Clean Energy

If the last time you thought about your caffeine consumption was [glances at watch] never, know that cutting back every now and then can rev your engine. This playbook will make a reset work for you.

- JESSICA MIGALA

If the perk-you-up promise of a cup of coffee is one of the only things getting you out of bed in the morning, you’re in very good company (*WH team waves hello*). Nearly 60 percent of South African adults start their day by drinking coffee, according to a recent survey by Eighty20. (One cup = 75 milligrams of caf, FYI.) Even people who don’t drink coffee take in 72 milligrams of caffeine – just above the amount in an espresso shot – every day from sources like tea, wellness supps or pre-workout mixes. Thing is, over time, cells in your brain adapt and you need to consume more to get the same buzz – something called tolerance, says Dr Lindsay Standeven, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. That’s when you may find your habit – one cup in the a.m. – turning into multiple mugs throughout the day.

There are very real health benefits to moderate amounts of coffee (four or five cups daily is deemed safe – but a cup is 170ml, not a large!), including a reduced risk for heart disease and cancer. Yet at a certain point of caffeine use – diff for everyone – the downsides emerge. You move out of enjoyment and experience side effects such as anxiety, jitters, gastrointestinal tract (GI) discomfort or trouble sleeping, says Dr Standeven. Or perhaps you’re pregnant or breastfeeding or have health conditions that make over-caffeinating dangerous, like high BP.

All this to say, a break can do your brain and body good, with possible benefits like quieting anxious thoughts and improving slumber (which has a ton of downstream pros for your ability to think and focus, as well as for your mood, energy, and more).