#30dayswithoutcoffeechallenge
There’s two little secrets you might not know about me – I love coffee and I suffer from arthritis.
Over the last few weeks my arthritis has become significantly worse. I was talking to a friend yesterday who has just experienced an extreme attack of gout. His doctor had advised him to give up coffee to help reduce his symptoms.
So, I wondered whether there may be a correlation between my coffee drinking habit and arthritis.
Now generally, I only have 2-3 cups per day which is considered to be quite a moderate intake. Having a quick trawl on the internet, there does seem to be very mixed reports about coffee having an effect and/or connection with arthritis.
Many of the studies were carried out decades ago. Part of me finds it very easy to dismiss any reports of a link. If I’m truthful I feel very resistant to having to make this change to my daily coffee habit. Obviously, this is how most people feel when faced with making any change to their diet. But, in the interest of alleviating my symptoms I decided that I would go 30 days without coffee and see how I feel.
For anyone who knows me, they will realise how hard I’m going to find this. Coffee has always been my little treat during the day. This is why I’ve made a public declaration, so that you can all help keep me accountable and on track.
So today has been Day 1.
My first obstacle was that the husband was off on a bike ride and usually has a coffee before he leaves. In our house, I’m chief coffee maker so I had to make coffee for everyone else, even though I couldn’t enjoy it myself!
Next up was a kids party drop off, followed by shopping. By the end of the morning, I had a cracking headache. I believe this is a typical withdrawal symptom. Anyhow, I have managed to make it to the end of the day without succumbing.
If you want to join in my 30 day challenge come and follow the New Leaf facebook page HERE. I’ll update you as to how I’m getting on and we can swap stories and help support each other.
(P.S. if you need to give up something other than coffee, then please still join me on Facebook. We can still help and support each other).