Stopping coffee addiction with hypnosis
Did you know that the average Dutch person ranks in the top in drinking coffee in Europe? In 2014, it was found that we Dutch drink an average of 2.4 cups of coffee per day. This number actually increased to just over three cups of coffee per day in 2015. So the Netherlands is becoming increasingly addicted to and resistant to coffee. As a result, if you want to cut down on drinking coffee, it may prove more difficult for you than you think.
That's why in this article I'll discuss what coffee does for you and how hypnosis can help you drink less coffee.
What coffee does for you
After water, coffee is the second most consumed drink worldwide. Everyone knows that water is necessary to keep yourself properly hydrated and it is the cleanest form of drinking. There is nothing at all in it, as well as nothing good such as minerals and vitamins.
Coffee is made from the coffee bean and water. If you look for the nutritional value of coffee it contains a little potassium and calcium. These two minerals are good for your bones and the transmission of signals in your nervous system.
Research shows that drinking coffee helps against diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's ( 1).
This may be because it contains chlorogenic acid, which is good against free radicals, and it helps counteract muscle glucose intolerance. This keeps your muscles and other cells absorbing sugar which lowers the risk of diabetes.
In the process, drinking coffee also helps keep your heart rhythm normal. People who drink coffee suffer less heart arrhythmia in the long term than those who do not drink coffee ( 2).
The reason coffee is so popular is because it also helps with thinking. Therefore, starting the day with a cup of coffee actually makes a lot of sense. Drinking more coffee therefore also makes sense when you start to get tired, but as with everything, coffee is only good if you drink it in moderation.
The disadvantages of coffee
In fact, drinking coffee also has disadvantages, and especially if you drink more than 1 or 2 cups of coffee a day. So the average Dutch person actually drinks too much coffee than is good for him/her.
Cafestol, in fact, is a substance in coffee that is good for you in moderation, but can make your cholesterol rise if you drink too much of it. That's just not good anymore. High cholesterol can lead to heart disease, such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack and other woes.
Drinking coffee actually has an immediate effect on your blood pressure, causing it to rise. If you stop drinking coffee for a while, it returns to normal. However, if you keep drinking coffee all day long, this can cause you to constantly have high blood pressure; especially if you drink more than 6 cups of coffee a day, this can also be dangerous in the long term.
For example, drinking more than six cups of coffee a day increases the risk of stroke, a medical problem that often results from long-term high blood pressure. Ultimately, that's not healthy for you at all.
Also, the risk of death from drinking coffee increases if you drink more than six cups of coffee a day.
Fortunately, your blood pressure will go back down if you drink less coffee or even quit altogether. This also reduces the risk of a stroke or death, and the risk is then even lower than for people who don’t drink coffee at all.
In addition, coffee is addictive because it affects adenosine receptors. When this effect wears off, you’ll also experience muscle fatigue— a problem that true coffee addicts know all too well.
In doing so, it is also bad for women because consuming too much coffee can interact with medication that affects hormones.
If you continue to drink coffee in the afternoon and evening, it also makes it harder to fall asleep. In addition, the caffeine in coffee can cause symptoms such as anxiety, an abnormal heartbeat that you suddenly feel, and tremors.
Along with this, there is also a difference between filtered and unfiltered coffee. As with cigarettes, it is better to use a filter. By using the filter, you ensure that the coffee contains less cafestol which reduces the effect on cholesterol.
So stick to 1 cup of filtered coffee in the morning and maybe a second cup of filtered coffee at lunch, but after that, it's really too much. In any case, don't go over five cups of coffee a day.
Coffee in the Netherlands
We Dutch are in the world's top coffee drinkers. This may be due to our high work morale and the urge to deliver quality and thus to be able to think well and be "fresh" when you start your work.
In fact, in 2014, we drank the most cups of coffee per person in the world, at 2.4 cups. But in 2015, we were overtaken by the Finns and Swedes, having risen to 3 cups of coffee per day by then.
Fortunately, we mainly drink filtered coffee, so the downsides of coffee consumption for the Dutch are primarily a lack of sleep, anxiety, and high blood pressure. As for cholesterol levels caused by coffee consumption, the impact should be minimal since we filter the coffee first ( 3).
How hypnosis can reduce coffee consumption
Do you drink more than 6 cups of coffee a day, or despite lower levels, do you suffer from insomnia, tremors or anxiety when you don't drink coffee?
Then it's good to cut down on drinking coffee. If this fails independently or if you just want some extra help, hypnotherapy can be a good help in reducing coffee drinking.
Finding out the cause of high coffee consumption
Initially, it is important to know why you drink coffee. Do you need it to wake up, do you need it for work, do you need it to be accepted at work?
By identifying the cause of your coffee addiction, hypnotherapy can be more effective in helping you quit.
For example, if you drink coffee to socialize at work near the coffee machine, during hypnosis you can receive suggestions that will help you have a pleasant conversation even without that coffee—and without the belief that you need it.
In addition, hypnotherapy can change your view of coffee. Since drinking coffee is not always unhealthy, a certain number of cups can give you a negative association so that after the third cup of coffee you really stop taking additional cups on that day.
If drinking coffee causes you to get poor sleep, you can also get help to stop drinking coffee after 2 in the afternoon.
Visualizations to reduce cravings
During hypnotherapy, for example, you will receive guided visualization. At first the hypnotherapist helps you to relax so that you are actually in hypnosis then you get a visualization, for example about how good coffee is. But after two o'clock in the afternoon the coffee doesn't taste good anymore and you turn off the button that tells you to drink coffee all day long.
To enhance this effect, you can also apply waking self-hypnosis. If you feel like coffee but know, for example, that you can't take it, you can visualize a dial that causes your cravings to decrease. Just as the volume of your radio decreases when you turn the knob, so does your craving for coffee decrease after turning the knob.
Suggestions to change wrong beliefs
I sometimes say that your beliefs create your reality. If you sincerely believe that you can only be social with a cup of coffee in your hand, then you are and you will only be social with a cup of coffee in your hand.
For people who believe in karma, reincarnation, heaven or hell, it all exists too. That belief is all over your body and you feel it when you don't follow that belief. If you believe in karma or hell and you do something bad your body will react to it with a feeling of fear or tension because of what you did.
By changing beliefs related to coffee, you can ensure that you can let go of the craving for coffee and then not feel a strange tension in your body once you enter into a conversation or work without that cup of coffee. One way this is done is through suggestions, such as:
- Tea is also a good hot beverage to drink while working.
- I can also just socialize with my colleagues.
- My boss/colleagues really can't tell if my product is made while I'm drinking coffee or not.
Would you like to learn more about hypnotherapy and how it can help you or others? Then check out the training programs or attend a seminar.
Sources:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10408390903586412
http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=1712575
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2015/04/01/koffie-is-ons-kopje-thee-a1497194