6 Signs You're Addicted To Caffeine !

1. You get a headache if you miss a cup

If you're a regular coffee drinker and have ever skipped your morning cup of coffee, you'll be familiar with that pounding in your head.

'Coffee headaches' are definitely a thing, and it's all because stopping daily caffeine consumption produces changes in cerebral blood flow. In other words, caffeine slows blood flow to your brain.
2. You're super grumpy before (or without) your fix

Hate absolutely everyone before your morning coffee? You're not alone. Caffeine stimulates the dopamine receptors (the 'pleasure centre') in your brain, as well as adrenaline, both which make us feel good.

Without coffee, our body relies on itself to regulate mood. Hence the feeling of grumpiness or lethargy.

Dmitry Fisher

3. You can't concentrate without caffeine

Foggy brain is another sign that you may be caffeine dependent, and this again relates to caffeine's ability to boost adrenaline, which helps keep us alert and focused. If we get used to that boost, when we go without coffee we can feel foggy and lack concentration.
4. You need more and more coffee for the same effect

If you started with one cup of coffee and now drink five cups a day, just to get the same effect, this is your body building up a tolerance to caffeine's effects.

This is where many people get stuck -- do we drink more to get the effects and go overboard, or cut back and feel the withdrawals?

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For a caffeine free alternative, try chicory and dandelion root tea. They taste amazing.

5. You feel nervous or anxious

Everyone processes caffeine differently -- some can drink three cups with no problems, while others are more sensitive. If high doses of caffeine make you feel nervous, anxious, edgy, nauseated or jittery, it might be time to cut back.

Essentially, coffee creates stress in the body (via adrenaline), producing those 'coffee symptoms' we often feel.
6. You can't bear the thought of giving up coffee

If you can't imagine a world without coffee, chances are you're more dependent on coffee than you thought. In order to cut down, experts suggest doing so slowly, not cold turkey, so as not to 'shock' your body.