Have you ever found yourself trying to reduce or quit your coffee intake but just can’t seem to kick the old habit? I find myself there often, not because I think caffeine in moderation is necessarily bad for you, but because I feel that the negative effects of addiction to caffeine are far worse. For me, I typically have a cup of coffee in the morning because I think it will help “wake me up”, not because I actually enjoy the taste of it. I don’t in fact, unless it’s a blueberry iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts then I do really enjoy it, but hot coffee most of the time isn’t great tasting to me. Like many of us, I drink it because I think it will “jumpstart” my day. Unfortunately, in the last few months I have noticed myself trying to sleep in a few hours on the weekends, but waking up with these debilitating headaches trying to understand why. Eventually I realized it was because I wasn’t getting my daily dose of caffeine at 6:30 am so I was getting caffeine withdrawal headaches. I have tried to quit but just find myself reverting back to the morning coffee ritual.

Last weekend I met up with my friend, Nadia, who is also a nutrition buff (read her blog!) and we were discussing some of our health concerns. She was so excited to tell me about this caffeine free, mostly organic, herbal coffee her husband has been drinking and raving over. It’s called Teeccino. That same day I went to the natural health store and found Teeccino in the coffee section and bought my first bag of grounds. I went home and brewed myself some just to see what the hype was all about. Nadia’s husband was right – it was delicious! They have a few flavors but I opted for the original that had a sweeter taste to it, which I liked. To wean yourself off of coffee, they recommend mixing 1 part coffee with 1 part Teeccino and eventually decreasing the coffee amount until you are drinking pure Teeccino.

The health benefits are amazing as well! Not only am I starting my day off with a healthy dose of nutrients for natural, sustainable energy, I can also snooze on the weekends without starting my day with a headache. Win, win!