More than 80% of Americans drink caffeine. These people tried to quit.

Yahoo

2 days ago

Giving up caffeine isn't easy.
Brigette Muller wasn't a big fan of caffeine for most of her life. Just a few sips just made her jittery and never seemed to have any upsides. But, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Muller started drinking Olipop's 'healthy soda,' she tells Yahoo. She especially loved the Vintage Cola flavor with prebiotics. 'I became addicted to Olipop, and I loved it, and I was like, 'I feel so good and energized!'' On a whim, Muller checked the ingredients and found a surprising explanation for her love of the soda: 50 milligrams of caffeine. 'I accidentally started drinking caffeine," she says.
By then, Muller was drinking about three cans a day. Though consuming up to 400 milligrams of caffeine a day is considered safe, and Muller still thinks of Olipop as 'healthy' soda, she figured 150 milligrams of caffeine was probably more than she should be drinking. So she tried to cut back. But giving up Olipop just 'got me deeper into coffee,' she says. Iced lattes and teas took the soda's place in her routine. Then, one day this year, Muller got what she calls 'an intuitive hit,' which told her 'caffeine is keeping you in fight-or-flight,' she says. After going down to one kombucha (typically around 15 milligrams of caffeine per 8-ounce serving) a day, Muller got off caffeine entirely and says she realized 'how it truly feels to be calm.'
Still, after three weeks of zero caffeine, she's back to allowing herself an occasional Olipop or other soda — never more than one a day. She insists that 'this time is different' and that she won't slip back into her old caffeine habits.
It's hard to give up caffeine — though many people try. According to a June 2025 Yahoo/YouGov poll of nearly 1,600 U.S. adults, 81% of Americans drink caffeine. And of that large majority, 30% have tried to give it up. But when we asked readers if they had ever given up caffeine successfully, only 6% of regular caffeine drinkers said, "yes." So, just what happens when you do, and why do we keep coming back for more? Here's what we learned from people who've tried to quit caffeine and experts who know all too well how the buzzy ingredient works.
Dunkin' or otherwise, much of America runs on caffeine
Only 19% of people we surveyed said they don't drink caffeine. And among the 81% who do, many aren't having just one morning cup of joe. While 32% said they have caffeine once daily, nearly as many (29%) reported reaching for a caffeinated beverage several times a day.
Grocery stores and gas stations are stocked with countless caffeinated options, but coffee is still king. Nearly half (48%) of survey respondents who consume caffeine said that coffee is their primary source, compared to 20% who are mainly soda drinkers. Tea generally has a lower concentration of caffeine than coffee and is the go-to for just 7% of caffeine drinkers, according to our survey.
A few people cite energy drinks as their main caffeine source, with 4% consuming beverages like Monster, Red Bull and Celsius. Some of these drinks are promoted as better-for-you beverages because they contain zero sugar or are free from artificial flavors and high-fructose corn syrup. That convinced 32-year-old Adorian Deck to give Celsius a try. The content creator thought it was 'healthier the way it was marketed,' he tells Yahoo. 'It tastes great and gets at my craving for soda because it's basically just a sugar-free soda, but it's ultimately the same trap I fell into with Diet Coke.' In reality, energy drinks are often high in caffeine. Celsius drinks, in particular, contain between 200 and 300 milligrams of caffeine per can. While one energy drink is unlikely to cause severe health consequences, more than 30 deaths in the U.S. have been linked to various energy drinks, including Red Bull, Monster and the alcoholic energy beverage Four Loko.
Is caffeine good or bad for you?
Like many things, caffeine is fine in moderation. Some research even suggests that people who drink some caffeine, especially from coffee, tend to be in better health than those who either don't consume it or drink a lot of it. Coffee's antioxidants may also offer protective effects against conditions including heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
But, because it's a stimulant, caffeine can also cause 'the body to go into a stress response,' raising the heart rate and blood pressure and leading to jitteriness and the feeling of an energy crash once its effects wear off, Lina Begdache, a Binghamton University nutritional neuroscientist, tells Yahoo. Some people are especially sensitive to those effects, while others hardly notice them, she adds.
Jordan Tarver, an American writer living in Spain, found out firsthand that he's someone who's very sensitive to caffeine. His wife gave up caffeine while addressing some health issues, but she never was particularly affected by it, Tarver says. 'That was so interesting to me, because I have one sip of coffee and I'm like, buzzing,' he tells Yahoo.
Tarver first realized that his two to three cups of coffee a day might be the reason he felt jittery and anxious. 'On a day when I had nothing to do, drinking coffee made me feel like I had a thousand things on my plate,' he says. He cut back and tried to substitute in matcha. But 'the jitteriness and anxiousness were still blocking my creative channel and keeping me from the calm space you need to be in to make art,' he says. Tarver finally went cold turkey in September 2024 and hasn't looked back. 'I love to just not be dependent on things,' he says. But, Tarver admits, 'I miss that routine, and I'm still a coffee lover — we just don't have the greatest relationship.'
What makes caffeine so hard to quit?
After developing a dependence on energy drinks, as well as coffee and soda, Deck finally gave up caffeine cold turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic. It took him nearly a month to stop having withdrawal symptoms like headaches and fatigue. But, ultimately, he loved getting off caffeine and discovered that he had more consistent energy throughout the day (though, since becoming a new dad last year, he does allow himself an occasional morning cup of coffee). He eventually took to TikTok to make a video about his experience, not to try to evangelize against coffee, soda or energy drinks, but because 'a lot of people don't know what caffeine really is, how it affects your body and that it's a normalized drug,' he says.
While these beverages aren't classified as drugs by the U.S. government, biologically speaking, they very much are, explains Begdache. 'Caffeine is a brain stimulant, meaning it makes the brain more focused and energized,' she says. But it also has 'addictive properties and dependency properties.' These addictive substances activate the brain's reward systems, so you feel extra good when you have them and bad when those substances are taken away. Withdrawals happen when you become dependent on a substance, meaning you won't feel like you're functioning normally if you don't have it.
How addicted and dependent you become on caffeine depends on your pattern of use (one cup of coffee vs. three or four with sodas or energy drinks in between, for example) and your genetics, says Begdache. But, in general, people who regularly consume caffeine can become dependent on it in a matter of weeks. The good news is that 'you can be on caffeine for years and reverse the addiction within a very short period,' says Begdache. The worst of caffeine withdrawals — marked by headaches, irritability, fatigue and trouble focusing — are usually over within about nine days.
The benefits of quitting caffeine — and how to do it successfully
Allie Williams, a 33-year-old pediatric occupational therapist, knows a thing or two about quitting. She quit drinking alcohol at the end of 2024. She'd never been a heavy drinker, but her social drinking started catching up with her in her 30s, so Williams decided "it wasn't a good look for me,' she tells Yahoo. 'When you quit an addictive habit, you have to face everything underneath it.' Williams had reached for alcohol to provide a sense of excitement in her life. Caffeine, she realized, was another thing she was reaching for 'so I didn't have to ride a low' in her mood or energy, she explains.
Her experience quitting alcohol helped Williams get through her caffeine withdrawals, and vice versa. 'They were hard in different ways. Caffeine was harder in that I drank it and depended on it every day,' while giving up alcohol changed her social life more, she says. Williams started by switching from multiple iced coffees a day to matcha for six months before giving up caffeine altogether in January. She also knew the change might impact her energy and mood, so she came prepared: 'I had to go through a hermit mode where I didn't do anything,' says Williams, who allowed herself to just eat and sleep more and work out less during that time.
If caffeine makes you jittery or you're using it to muscle your way through tiredness, Begdache says it might be time to assess your intake. She says that tapering off like Williams did is the best way to quit without experiencing withdrawal intense enough to derail your efforts. Her other advice: 'It sounds counterintuitive, but if you're quitting caffeine, be more active, because your brain feels the fatigue when you stop drinking caffeine,' says Begdache. 'Exercise helps your brain feel more energized by increasing blood flow.'
Once Williams kicked her caffeine habit, she was amazed at how much better she felt. 'I feel so much more balanced. I'm not so up and down, reaching for something to make me feel OK,' she says.
Quitting caffeine, she says, 'can totally change your life.' She's sleeping better, her skin has improved and she has plenty of energy, spread evenly throughout her day. 'As a kid, I had so much energy, and I was excited about everything,' she says. 'As I got older, I thought I had to have alcohol and go out to feel excited or have coffee to be energetic, but I still had the energy — it was just covered up by other things,' Williams says.
Solve the daily Crossword