I'm similar. I drink coffee because I really like drinking coffee. That it's healthy is another bonus point, but at the same time I have to limit myself because the voice in my head says "don't drink too much otherwise your off-days will be harder".

Though I am still at maximum 1 cup per day and have absolutely no problem skipping a few days here and there. Good thing about caffeine is that it's very fast to reset back to 0.

Other caffeine sources I enjoy as well but try to stay away as much as possible and only consume very very very occasionally. Studies that link telomere length to caffeine (from non-coffee sources) are enough to make me not want to drink energy drinks at all despite me really liking the taste and boost.

I enjoy coffee too, but I've noticed that with the pods machines like Nespresso I tend to drink more of it and I wonder if it's not the same for the author (I had a french press before and I had to clean and prepare the coffee which was 5-10 minutes per day, vs 1 minute now). My new coffee machine created an addiction without I've noticed it. The bright side is that according to recent studies coffee can prevent liver cancer. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25291138)

>> It is unclear whether the benefits are significant enough to "treat" patients with chronic liver disease.

From the abstract, they never say it prevent liver cancer.. but maybe that could help if you already have a big liver disease.

Do you notice you are more tired in the afternoon on days you have had coffee in the morning?

For the life of me at around 4pm I start to feel snoozy if I had one in the morning.

I thought that originally, but turns out my lunchtime routine had more of an effect than my coffee consumption. Getting up and away from my desk for 30 minutes has far more of an impact than whether I have 0 1 or 2 coffees that day.

I've changed from drinking coffee in the morning to only in the afternoon. Keeps me awake after a big lunch.

I stopped drinking it for a year just to see what difference it made - it felt like more even energy over the day, but mornings lost something - so I have two strong cups very early now and no caffeine after 9am - except maybe tea

Some of the energy thing is related to dehydration I suspect - if I drink more water over the day it has same effect as stopping coffee

> Some of the energy thing is related to dehydration I suspect - if I drink more water over the day it has same effect as stopping coffee

For me, that was the majority of it. I've settled on a 1:1 ratio. Drink a cup of coffee, then a full cup of water before I have another coffee.

When I wake up I pour 12oz of water into the electric kettle. I use a French press. And I chug 12 oz+ of water.

Lack of hydrating is probably my worst bad habit.

By far the best tip I ever got from /r/LifeProTips was "drink two cups of water first thing in the morning". Makes a huge difference for my energy levels and likelihood of getting a headache.

I drink Pepsi, and have tried to quit many times. One major thing I notice when I'm "on it" is that I get super drowsy a couple hours after lunch every day. When I'm off Pepsi/caffeine, I don't get this afternoon drowsiness. However, It's really hard to stay up after 10pm when I am off Pepsi/caffeine, which is when I work on my personal projects..

Is this Diet/Light or is this normal Pepsi?

What you're describing is sugar dependence, not caffiene. Cut out all processed sugar and after 2 weeks you'll wonder what drug you are on (then cut out "healthy" carbs like bread and pasta and you'll wonder how you ever wanted to eat them).

I've gone on anti-sugar diets too. This issue I'm having is definitely from the caffeine.

I get those symptoms from coffee. I don't eat processed sugar and I mostly avoid other carbs during the work week. When I don't drink coffee I don't need an afternoon nap. But I like both coffee and naps so I often have coffee.

Do you put sugar in your coffee, though?

Quoting myself from my original comment "I don't eat processed sugar".

Just like you, I enjoy drinking coffee too and I don't notice any change in energy levels. If I don't drink coffee in the morning the only thing that happens is the headache in the afternoon, as you mentioned.

When I drink coffee at night, which is rare, I also don't have any trouble falling asleep.

I also feel an oncoming headache and dreariness at 3-4pm like clockwork if I hadn't had caffeine.

> I wonder if the author's energy level issues were due to his "ever-increasing consumption".

I'm the author. Apparently caffeine affects people in different ways.