How I manage my caffeine intake.
I was late to the game when it comes to caffeine exposure. Since high school, I’ve struggled with migraines, and because caffeine is a well-known trigger, I stayed away from it as much as possible.
In college, I remember feeling jealous of people using and abusing caffeine. To be able to legally ingest a substance that helped you stay awake and focused before exams almost felt like an unfair advantage to me.
A year and a half ago, noticing a decrease in my migraine frequency, I became curious about the real-world benefits of caffeine. Based on what I saw in college and finding out that Bill Gates and John Carmack are both Diet Coke addicts, I had high expectations.
So I went and got a can of Coke and drank it during work. As this was essentially my first caffeine experience, I was highly sensitive and became instantly wired. The hype in my head was real. I got so much work done that day and I couldn’t help but feel that all this time I’d been operating in a slower-paced, less-focused universe compared to my peers.
I was so excited that I raved about my experience with a few people I knew. Most people laughed and many were envious about how effective one can of coke was to me. I soon came to find that a lot of my peers require far more caffeine just to be at a baseline level of operation.
I decided to do some research on YouTube where I found people like Wheezy Waiter, Beau Miles, and Christian Schaffer all suffering from caffeine withdrawals during experiments where they stopped drinking coffee.
I realized that caffeine addiction is real, and once you are hooked, the powerful benefits that I experienced are far less potent. So I came up with a plan to manage my caffeine intake that I’ve stuck to for over a year now.
My general rules are the following:
Following these rules, I can effectively micro-dose caffeine, enjoying its potent effects from just a can of Coke without any dependency side effects. It’s great to have something that can reliably increase my mental performance when I need it.
I know caffeine affects people differently, so I’d love to hear how other people manage their caffeine intake (even if it is complete dependence). Please email me at [email protected] to start a conversation.