1) Dark roast coffee has less caffeine and is (in my subjective opinion) tastier. So if one wants the taste of coffee without less of the effects, consider an espresso or a Turkish coffee. The latter is just called "coffee" in much of Eastern Europe, one can pick up a beautiful cezve on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3D...
2) Yerba Mate is 75 mg of caffeine per serving: higher than tea, but less than coffee. Can be made in an French Press or a tea pot and served like conventional tea.
3) Caffeine gum: not particularly pleasant to chew, but comes in a more precise dose (100mg) and is "kicks in" faster.
Personally, I'd like to see more genetic studies on this: I am not particularly affected by caffeine: I've never experienced withdrawals (despite consuming caffeine heavily -- from coffee and energy drinks for a long period of time) nor do I see coffee raise itself in potency after a week or two of abstinence. This is different for others and I would really like to understand why.
Different people react differently. For a variety of conditions, I take moderate doses of opioids (tramadol 50mg qds or codeine 60mg qds) and benzodiazepines (tamazepam 20mg daily), both of which are well-known to cause dependence. I've abruptly stopped both a number of times (strongest example - going without the tramadol for three months, after taking that dose for over six months) without any ill effects or withdrawal (other than the original conditions returning to about the same as they were before treatment).
My caffeine usage has varied quite a bit. At one point I was drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, some caffeinated drink during the day, and then tea in the evening, around seven o'clock. When I was eating a college dining hall diet, I was drinking a caffeinated soda with every meal, plus coffee in the morning, and tea (mostly green) on average once per day. These days I hardly drink any caffeine. The transitions between these patterns have always been abrupt, and I've never felt drowsy or had a craving or headaches or anything following a reduction of caffeine consumption.
As a kid I was taking 30mg amphetamine daily, which I stopped taking abruptly and had no withdrawal (I did eat a huge amount in the days following, but the drug was causing me to not eat and lose weight). I had been taking it for about 6 months. Later I was taking 54mg methylphenidate 5 days/week for about two years, and I stopped taking it abruptly and again experienced no withdrawal symptoms.
Headaches (the most frequent symptom my wife experiences, as do my friends), excessive sleepiness, exhaustion, shaking hands, etc...
It's possible, however, that I may have been slightly more tired, but beyond the threshold of noticing this; or slightly slower reaction times. This isn't a scientific study.
1) Dark roast coffee has less caffeine and is (in my subjective opinion) tastier. So if one wants the taste of coffee without less of the effects, consider an espresso or a Turkish coffee. The latter is just called "coffee" in much of Eastern Europe, one can pick up a beautiful cezve on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3D...
2) Yerba Mate is 75 mg of caffeine per serving: higher than tea, but less than coffee. Can be made in an French Press or a tea pot and served like conventional tea.
3) Caffeine gum: not particularly pleasant to chew, but comes in a more precise dose (100mg) and is "kicks in" faster.
Personally, I'd like to see more genetic studies on this: I am not particularly affected by caffeine: I've never experienced withdrawals (despite consuming caffeine heavily -- from coffee and energy drinks for a long period of time) nor do I see coffee raise itself in potency after a week or two of abstinence. This is different for others and I would really like to understand why.