Coffee Detox Program.

Welcome

Congrats and welcome to the Coffee Detox Program. From one coffee addict to another, it's not an easy step to make. Coffee had been by my side for almost my entire life, and I was ready for a change. I was sick of withdrawal leading me to feel like I *needed* a cup just to wake up. So, I put my experience as an M.D. to work and poured over research to come up with the perfect Coffee Detox Program with my friends at MUD\WTR and it worked. More than just give up my addiction, it helped me reevaluate my relationship with how I work and how I take care of my body. The best part about this program is you don’t have to give up your morning ritual; you can start a new one. With MUD\WTR you'll enjoy a brew that nourishes your body, mind, and spirit, enabling you to take on your day from a place of calm, sustained, centered, and balanced awareness.

I’ll be here to share with you the science behind caffeine addiction and withdrawal, and the MUD\WTR team is here to help you stay motivated, stay connected, and stay accountable.

You got this.

Dr. Molly Maloof

Program Overview

Are you beating your chest like a Spartan warrior preparing for battle?

Good. Make no mistake about it, over the next four weeks you will be tested. But by the end, you will have become a stronger, calmer, more in-control version of yourself.

We have developed this program in coordination with Dr. Molly, and it is designed to detox without shocking the system. The reason most people have such a hard time quitting coffee is withdrawal. The reason most withdrawal symptoms are unbearable is from detoxing too fast.

Years of coffee consumption builds extra adenosine receptors in the brain that expect daily high doses of caffeine. The digestive system, the adrenals, and the heart have also become accustomed to their daily hit. When you are giving up coffee too fast, you feel like crap because the brain receptors are expecting caffeine and the digestive system is also slowing down because it’s not getting stimulated.

We’ve done our homework on the science and psychology of caffeine addiction, and designed this course to make winning (and weaning) feel easy.

Think of yourself as a NASCAR driver, and we’re your pit crew.

Ready, set, go.

Here's what you need.

This program transitions you from coffee to a much healthier alternative. Other than some MUD\WTR, all you need is a little commitment, a journal, and a side of humor.

• Pick up a MUD\WTR starter kit.
• A coffee addiction.
• A journal.
• A sense of humor.
• Join the Coffee Detox community.

What to expect.

We’re here to give you a proven program and a community to support you in your transition to a clearer, brighter, better rested you who’s ready to take on 2021 from a place of balance, centered, awareness rather than frantic, frazzled, and freaked out.

1. Week 1: Preparation. (You are here.)
2. Week 2: Start weaning.
3. Week 3: You're a weaner!
4. Week 4: The finish line and a big secret.

Week 1: Getting Started.

"Curiosity is the beginning of knowledge, but understanding is the beginning of wisdom."

— Debasish Mridha, MD.

"To help you get off on the right foot, I want to explain how caffeine works.

The FDA defines caffeine as both a drug and a food additive. When we drink caffeine, the effects come on within 15 minutes. The levels peak in about an hour and (for most people) stay elevated for many hours. Around half of it is still in the body six hours later and a quarter of it remains 12 hours after that first sip. Your caffeine metabolism is determined by your inherited variant of the CYP1A2 gene. Those who have variants that make them slow metabolizers will keep caffeine around in their body and experience harsher side effects for much longer than fast metabolizers. People who are slow metabolizers have the highest risk of cardiovascular side effects and it may even worsen their performance in sports. There are also variants of the A2a adenosine receptor gene that can make individuals more prone to anxiety with caffeine consumption than those without the variant.

Whether you're detoxing with your genetic test results in hand or you just know you don't feel right, understanding how caffeine works will help you detox in the short term, and build a healthier relationship with it in the long term.

Let's get started.”

Dr. Molly Maloof

This week's homework.

Set Intentions

Take a few minutes to journal about what your life is going to look like post-coffee. Set your intentions like they’ve already happened. Feel free to use these stereotyped phrases to jumpstart your engine:

I wake up in my comfy bed and am so grateful to feel clear and energized without coffee.

I am grateful to no longer be a coffee-drinker.

I am grateful to be sleeping better and feeling more stable energy throughout the day.

As your pen moves across the page, allow yourself to feel this good new feeling. This exercise is training your subconscious.

During this course, journal one paragraph per day about anything you like. A good time to journal is while drinking your MUD\WTR.

Stay Accountable

Use social pressure to your advantage by making a public announcement about your journey on social media. You can also join our Facebook group (link) which is made up of other detoxers like you who are working to complete, or have already completed, this program.

Dare a friend to detox with you—we dare you.

Extra credit: Raise the stakes by writing a check to an anti-charity for an amount of money that will sting if you lose it. This is an organization that you hate. Give the check to a friend and tell them to mail it if you’re not off of coffee within the next two weeks.

Track your Consumption

Journal how much caffeine you tend to drink daily. If you also consume heart attacks in a can (ahem, Red Bull), submit those too.

Here’s a caffeine tracker to log your intake in mg/day:
https://coffee-channel.com/caffeine-calculator/

Make it Obvious

We’re going to take a page out of James Clear’s fantastic book Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results. Changing habits is due less to willpower, and more due to reengineering your environment to make good decisions easy and bad decisions hard.

This is important so please don’t skip over this step.

Place your MUD\WTR and frother next to the spot where you make your coffee each morning.

Next week we'll start weaning off of coffee, but for now, just get acquainted with the problem and double down on why and how we're going to fix it.

If you want to skip ahead, click here.

Week 2: Starting the Wean.

"Most people overestimate what they can do in a day, and underestimate what they can do in a month."

— Matthew Kelly

"To help you get off on the right foot, I want to explain how caffeine works.

The FDA defines caffeine as both a drug and a food additive. When we drink caffeine, the effects come on within 15 minutes. The levels peak in about an hour and (for most people) stay elevated for many hours. Around half of it is still in the body six hours later and a quarter of it remains 12 hours after that first sip. Your caffeine metabolism is determined by your inherited variant of the CYP1A2 gene. Those who have variants that make them slow metabolizers will keep caffeine around in their body and experience harsher side effects for much longer than fast metabolizers. People who are slow metabolizers have the highest risk of cardiovascular side effects and it may even worsen their performance in sports. There are also variants of the A2a adenosine receptor gene that can make individuals more prone to anxiety with caffeine consumption than those without the variant.

Whether you're detoxing with your genetic test results in hand or you just know you don't feel right, understanding how caffeine works will help you detox in the short term, and build a healthier relationship with it in the long term.

Let's get started.”

Dr. Molly Maloof

Homework.

Cut your Coffee Consumption in Half.

Okay, now that you know how much caffeine you’re consuming and you have the right mindset in place for success, it’s time to implement our method for weaning carefully. Our gradual coffee detox plan cuts down your intake over time to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

The goal this week is to scale down your coffee intake to half of your normal dose. If you drink two cups of coffee per day, which is the American average, slowly replace your second cup with a full cup of MUD\WTR.

Be diligent about drinking some MUD\WTR daily. This is training your brain to form a new, healthier habit.

If you miss a day, don’t be too hard on yourself, just don’t miss two.

Find your New Ritual.

Like coffee, for some MUD can take some time to get used to. We suggest playing around with it and making it your own. We have created a recipe page where we upload new inspiration every week. Click here and tap into your inner barista.

Here's a favorite:

1. 1 tbsp of MUD\WTR
2. 1 tbsp of MUD\WTR Creamer
3. 1 ½ cups of hot plant-based milk
4. A few drops of Stevia to sweeten

Be Cool to Yourself

Every time you decide to forgo your second cup of coffee, give yourself a treat. Walk outside or watch a cat skateboarding on YouTube. Whatever will give you a little hit of dopamine.

Rewarding yourself helps train the brain to form new habits.

Stay Accountable (Part 2)

Again, check-in with our Facebook group or the friend who’s completing the program with you.

Keep journaling.

How are you feeling now that you’ve cut your coffee consumption in half? Are you sleeping better? Noticing you have less stress sweat? No more mini panic attacks?

Stick with it—a new world is opening up to you!

Pro Tips.

We know that even in the best cases, some people will still feel some of the effects of caffeine reduction, which is why we have come up with a list of pro tips to help you cope with this part of the weaning process.

1. For headache prevention, Dr. Thalia, an expert naturopath, recommends these supplements: magnesium (up to 1 gram a day), alpha-lipoic acid, hydration, minerals, and NAD+. “Once you are behind it it’s harder to manage,” she says. This strategy is aimed at getting ahead of the headache before it happens.
2. For headache treatment, try magnesium supplements like Hilma Tension Relief or a hot bath with Epsom salts and peppermint oil. Vanessa Fitzgerald, a wellness expert who helps people wean off stimulants, recommends curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, for pain relief to kick the worst headaches.
3. If you need more mental energy, get movement in first thing in the morning to give your body the surge of dopamine you’re expecting to get from coffee. Intense exercise is a great way to naturally boost dopamine and give you added “feel good” endorphins.
4. If you’re worried about your workouts suffering from a lack of caffeine in your pre-workout, try adding electrolytes and beetroot powder to your water bottle to boost your hydration and your nitric oxide production, which will give you the extra power boost you need.
5. If you feel like you need help moving your bowels, try drinking some Smooth Move tea in the morning or taking MagOx before you go to bed. Making smoothies with a bunch of fiber and chlorophyll from greens or even adding a fiber supplement can also help.
6. Make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep your brain and body functioning optimally. We recommend drinking half your weight in ounces and adding a pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt to each cup for electrolytes for better hydration.
7. If you are feeling tired, give yourself space for plenty of rest. Some people initially notice trouble sleeping while they are reducing their caffeine intake, but it’s more likely that your sleep will continue to improve with less caffeine in your system.

Week 3: You're a Weaner

"Now that you are already at half your regular coffee intake, you're on the home stretch. Sure, you may be noticing some changes in your overall daily functioning.

You may notice your workouts are not as intense. Give it time and the amount of caffeine in MUD\WTR will soon be plenty to kickstart performance.

Your weight may fluctuate. Some gain weight and some lose weight as their body becomes accustomed to a new diet.

You may feel a little down or moody. Dopamine-related depression does occur with some people due to the declines in dopamine that can occur in some people. Supplements like L-Tyrosine and N-Acetyltyrosine will provide precursor building blocks for dopamine. Many people swear by Mucuna Pruriens or red velvet bean, which contains dopamine precursors. Other ways to boost dopamine are exercise, sunlight, and music.

You may feel a little anxious. The cycle of freaking out about work, reaching for coffee, and getting stressed into focus is not great for overall mental health, but we understand a lot of people are actually addicted to this emotional cycle. We recommend trying meditation, breathwork, journaling, or apps like Jour to work through your anxiety around your relationship with coffee.

You may have some trouble sleeping. Anxiety, dopamine changes, and just being more conscious and present can make it difficult to fall asleep for some. The best way to beat insomnia is if you can’t sleep, get out of bed, and do something that will put you to sleep, like reading. Don’t spend your time at night on screens, don't eat right before bed, and trust that in time you'll be sleeping more deeply and restoratively once you reduce the amount of caffeine in your body at bedtime.

The good news is this is all normal and will vary based on your previous coffee habit along with your personal genetic makeup. Recalibrating to the new norm can take some time as you are unwinding days of habitual physiological programming. Trust me when we say it will get better.

You're almost there."

Dr. Molly Maloof

This week's homework.

Scale to Zero

Now that your body is less reliant on coffee, we will scale down to zero over the next few days. By day three, you can drink as much MUD\WTR as you like, but coffee is out. Done. It’s as gone as the mastodon.

Hide Your Coffee

To make this transition easy, put your coffee maker in the basement or take it to the local crematorium. Whatever creates a physical barrier to pouring a cup of coffee during a moment of weakness.

If you live with coffee-drinkers, be sure to check with them first. Getting rid of a French Press in a house full of addicts may be considered an act of war.

If you cannot get rid of the coffee-maker, set up a new spot far away from it where you can make your MUD\WTR each morning.

Move Your Body Every Morning

The shift from some coffee to no coffee can feel daunting, so every day this week move your body as soon as you wake up. Go on a five-minute walk each morning and look at the sky—it’s been proven to help wake up the brain.

If you want to scale up with a full-on morning workout, cold plunge or summit Everest in shorts, go for it. We salute you!

Change the Way you Speak

“Want to grab a cup of coffee?”

You may get asked this question daily. Instead of saying, “No thanks, I’m trying not to drink coffee.” Practice saying, “No thanks, I don’t drink coffee.” This might seem small, but the difference is how you see yourself.

It’s your identity.

Consider saying it aloud right now: “No thanks, I don’t drink coffee.” Or, “I don’t drink coffee, but I’ll see you there for a cup of tea.”

Big thanks again to author James Clear for this hack.

Pro tip: Go to a coffee shop with a canister of MUD\WTR, ask the barista for a cup of hot water, and then leave a big tip.

Stay Accountable (Part 3)

Call your detox buddy, post to social media or think about that check you wrote to the organization you despise. Whatever it takes to keep that social pressure working in your favor.

Keep journaling each morning. Are you paying more attention when people speak instead of talking over them? Are you feeling calmer? More at peace? Jot it all down.

Pro Tips.

The best way to build habits is to stack them together. There is strength in numbers, after all, and a layered domino effect can keep you consistent in those things that keep you sane. This looks like:

• Exercising in the morning while listening to music outside in the sun, if that’s when you have the most energy during the day.
• Staying hydrated before and after you work out.
• Throwing in a healthy smoothie post-workout is a great way to prevent weight gain from overeating if you used caffeine to maintain your weight.
• Meal prepping on weekends right after you finish grocery shopping.
• Taking your supplements after you brush your teeth in the morning.

Week 4: The Finish Line.

"It's getting easy right? You should be feeling pretty confident by now. The truth is a big part of this detox is getting to know your new self and all the benefits that it brings to your body.

You made it through the wean, and by the end of this week, you should notice a change. Maybe you’re paying more attention to what people are saying instead of talking over people. Maybe you’re taking better care of yourself all around. You're drinking more water, exercising in the morning, and dreaming again. There are a lot of different benefits to cutting back on coffee, and we hear it all.

Congrats on making it this far. Let's see what a full week without coffee feels like.

We did it."

Dr. Molly Maloof

What to expect

Sticking with the plan through this week will lead to a whole host of real benefits from quitting coffee:

• You’ll wake up and you’ll be off the caffeine roller coaster: Instead of waking up all cranky, getting high from your morning cup, feeling the dip from low caffeine after lunch and having to re-caffeinate, and then going through the entire roller coaster all over again, you’ll be running on your body’s natural energy supply.
• Once you break the vicious cycle, your sleep will improve and you’ll have natural energy to take on the day. One of the main things people discover when they kick caffeine is just how much deeper sleep they get, which is exactly what you need when you are recovering from burnout.
• Your skin will glow because you’ll maintain better hydration. Just look at JLo. She drinks zero caffeine and her skin is amazing.
• You’ll have warmer hands and feet. Many people get cold hands and feet with caffeine use because it causes vasoconstriction.
• If you get migraines, you will experience less of them when you cut out caffeine.
• Your mood will be more level throughout the day. You may not know this but caffeine can reduce the rate of serotonin synthesis. So even though you will have lowered dopamine sensitivity, you’ll have more serotonin around. This will make you feel a lot less anxious, depressed, and a lot happier in the long run.
• You’ll be less stressed because your body won’t be pumping out tons of adrenaline and cortisol. Your heart will beat slower and you’ll feel calmer in general. If you’re constantly in “fight or flight” mode, cutting back on caffeine can help you flip the switch to “rest and digest.”
• You’ll have a brighter smile because it won’t be stained from coffee and tea.