{"id":239354,"date":"2025-11-02T09:38:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T09:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/239354\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T09:38:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T09:38:21","slug":"harriet-green-i-was-drinking-10-coffees-a-day-my-sleep-was-terrible-and-this-one-side-effect-was-driving-my-husband-crazy-this-is-how-im-taking-control-over-my-caffeine-addiction-and-you-can-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/239354\/","title":{"rendered":"HARRIET GREEN: I was drinking 10 coffees a day. My sleep was terrible and this one side-effect was driving my husband crazy. This is how I’m taking control over my caffeine addiction – and you can too"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission – learn more<\/a><\/p>\n

My name is Harriet, and I am a coffee addict. Coffee is the first thing I think of when I wake: fire up the Bialetti moka pot<\/a>, add a dash of almost-boiling milk and\u2026 aaah! Bliss.<\/p>\n

But once I start, it\u2019s hard to stop. On a typical day I\u2019ll have five full pots before lunch \u2013 the equivalent of ten single espressos. I don\u2019t eat breakfast, so it\u2019s a pure caffeine diet from 7am to past noon. Towards lunchtime, I can feel my stress levels rising. I\u2019m jumpy, a little snappy, busy, busy, oh, so busy \u2013 but do I actually achieve anything?<\/p>\n

Emeritus Professor Peter Rogers, a psychologist at the University of Bristol, has done a huge amount of studies over the years on what caffeine does to the body. \u2018Our research found non-caffeine consumers don\u2019t perform better on tasks when given caffeine. They feel more wakeful and more anxious, but not more focused.\u2019<\/p>\n

Also, my sleep is appalling. Ten espressos! What did I expect?<\/p>\n

Recently, I started tracking my sleep with an Oura ring \u2013 a smart device that measures your heart rate, temperature and movement. It shows what I already know: my sleep is poor and my nights restless. The cold, hard data is sobering.<\/p>\n

\"Harriet <\/p>\n

Harriet with her morning Joe, 1973\u00a0<\/p>\n

My love of coffee goes back to childhood. My grandmother adored Italy<\/a> and brewed coffee using the classic Bialetti pot. It\u2019s one of my earliest memories and I\u2019ve always loved the logo: the little moustached man with his finger raised. I\u2019ve had my own Bialetti since I was a student, and bought my latest version \u2013 the Venus, in metallic blue \u2013 on a recent holiday in Verona.<\/p>\n

A hazy photograph from the 1970s shows me, about five years old, sitting at the breakfast table in a quilted dressing gown, clutching a glass mug that\u2019s already drained of liquid. That coffee was probably my second of the day.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t like the taste so much, then. I would stir in sugar till the grains crunched on the bottom. Every morning I bounced to school, a small girl with a bubble of blonde hair, totally wired.<\/p>\n

In the evenings, my parents had dinner parties \u2013 70s maxidresses, boeuf bourguignon and big hair \u2013 followed by black espressos from tiny cups and a Bendicks Bittermint on the gold-rimmed saucer. If I was allowed to stay up, I would have a coffee, too. Then off to bed, totally zipped.<\/p>\n

Caffeine is the world\u2019s most popular psychoactive drug. It has a long and rich history. One story claims a ninth-century goatherd called Kaldi noticed his goats were more full of energy after eating coffee berries. So he tried some himself. Yemeni Sufis roasted the seeds of the berry to create the drink we recognise today and stay awake during long prayer sessions. The world\u2019s first coffee houses appeared in the 15th century, across the Ottoman Empire. Within 200 years, Europe was buzzing too.<\/p>\n

Voltaire was said to drink 40 to 50 cups a day. More recently, Robbie Williams reportedly consumed up to 36 double espressos daily when he checked into rehab in 2007.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, I spent four days at a health spa that provided a barley-coffee substitute. On day two, feeling properly ill \u2013 pounding headache and feverish \u2013 I took from my suitcase an M&S coffee bag I\u2019d packed just in case, and felt like a sad addict as, in desperation, I tried to brew a cup using tepid water from the bathroom tap.<\/p>\n

This, surely, was rock bottom. It was time to cut down \u2013 or stop altogether.<\/p>\n

My friend Philippa Perry, the psychotherapist and agony aunt, has been decaf for years. \u2018Honestly, it\u2019s worse than coming off heroin,\u2019 she says, and she\u2019s not exaggerating: \u2018I\u2019ve worked with addicts and that\u2019s what they\u2019ve said.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

I turn to the celebrity acupuncturist Ross Barr, who has described coffee as \u2018the energetic equivalent of doing a little bump of cocaine\u2019. Each cup agitates the endocrine system, he tells me, releasing the flight-or-flight hormones adrenaline and cortisol regardless of actual need.<\/p>\n

For someone who is already wired, tired or anxious, coffee amplifies that state. \u2018It\u2019s throwing powerful oil on the fire of your angst,\u2019 Barr says. At his London clinic, he takes my pulse and treats me with needles. Lying down for 30 minutes gives me time to think. I\u2019ve had two coffees before seeing him \u2013 the second one I glugged down in his waiting room. He suggests I stop for the day and, remarkably, I manage without too much trouble. He\u2019s a great listener and I find that talking about my habit is incredibly helpful. As others before me have found, admitting to having a problem makes it easier to tackle.<\/p>\n

And yet, and yet\u2026<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty of research demonstrating the benefits of coffee. Only two months ago, a study by Warwick University showed that coffee drinkers are happier in the first two and a half hours of the day. \u2018Caffeine works by blocking adenosine receptors, which can increase dopamine activity in key brain regions,\u2019 explained Professor Anu Realo, \u2018an effect linked to improved mood and greater alertness.\u2019<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Professor Tim Spector, the epidemiologist and gut expert, extolled the virtues of coffee on his podcast, specifically its fibre content and high levels of polyphenols (\u2018like rocket fuel for your gut microbes\u2019). They can have, he said, \u2018amazing protective effects on the rest of the body, particularly our hearts.\u2019 I should add that Spector says there\u2019s a point where enough becomes too much. \u2018Health data shows that if you have between one and five cups of coffee a day, it\u2019s healthy. As soon as you get to six or more, you seem to lose that benefit.\u2019<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the problem: with so many variables \u2013 the bean, processing and brewing techniques, water content \u2013 it\u2019s hard to say exactly how much caffeine is in any given cup.<\/p>\n

One day, attempting to be scientific, I measured my intake. For years, I\u2019ve brewed Lavazza Rossa, a blend that\u2019s widely available in supermarkets. And it turns out that I use 16g in each moka-pot brew, which means 180mg to 205mg of caffeine per cup. Most mornings, I drink five of these. That\u2019s 900mg to 1,025mg of caffeine every day. The American Food and Drug Administration estimates that the safe limit is approximately 400mg.<\/p>\n

James Hoffman has a successful YouTube channel (more than two million subscribers) dedicated to coffee. His book, The World Atlas Of Coffee, is in its third edition. He agreed with my calculations, adding that the high figure is partly because of the beans that go into my preferred blend.<\/p>\n

\u2018Lavazza Rossa has some robusta beans in it [about 30 per cent], and robusta has about twice the caffeine content of arabica. So you\u2019re starting with a lot more caffeine to begin with. Sixteen grams of robusta \u2013 it\u2019s like drinking 24g of pure arabica.\u2019<\/p>\n

Hoffman loves coffee, but he\u2019s clear-eyed about how much is too much: \u2018My line on caffeine is: it is the world\u2019s most popular psychoactive drug, yet nobody has any idea how much they\u2019re taking. With alcohol, for example, everything\u2019s listed. Caffeine? Not a clue! If people knew how much they were consuming, they might drink less.\u2019<\/p>\n

Hoffman stops drinking coffee by 2pm. \u2018Sleep is really important to me, so that\u2019s a hard limit on my caffeine consumption,\u2019 he explains. \u2018I would generally not exceed 330mg to 350mg a day.\u2019<\/p>\n

He suggests I switch to an arabica blend. \u2018Right now, it\u2019s a great time to be a coffee consumer in the UK; you have so much choice. Have a look, initially, for a pure arabica.\u2019 He warns me that I\u2019ll notice a difference in taste, and advises I shouldn\u2019t aim to cut down too fast, say from 1,000mg a day to 200mg. \u2018You may have a day or two where that doesn\u2019t feel great.\u2019<\/p>\n

I could also experiment with different coffees at different times of day, Hoffman suggests. Sometimes he has a decaf in the afternoon, \u2018when it\u2019s dark outside, and I want that coffeeness, but I also want to sleep later on\u2019. Decaf used to be a poor alternative, but no longer, he says. \u2018And there are lots of options out there for half-caf.\u2019<\/p>\n

Strangely, it\u2019s not my mood that finally encourages me to cut down. For some years, I\u2019ve been going to the loo many times a night \u2013 a common symptom of the perimenopause\/menopause \u2013 and it\u2019s been getting worse, ruining my sleep and driving my husband crazy. Last month, as I was researching this article, I got a urinary tract infection. There are strong links between coffee and bladder irritation. I cut back, and on the days I drank less coffee \u2013 as the Oura ring confirmed \u2013 my nocturnal loo trips fell sharply.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not ready to give up coffee completely. I\u2019ll cut down to two cups before noon and follow Hoffman\u2019s suggestions for alternative blends and an excellent decaf. My sleep will be better \u2013 I really hope \u2013 my bladder calmer and my daytimes less jittery.<\/p>\n

But ultimately, I agree with the great Jerry Seinfeld. \u2018I think coffee is the most important part of a human\u2019s life,\u2019 he once joked. \u2018When you get to the end of this life, before you move on to whatever is next, I think it\u2019s quite possible your last thought will be, \u201cThat was good coffee!\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

My top 5 pure arabica coffees<\/p>\n

Best everyday<\/p>\n

Waitrose 1 Sumatran Mandheling Ground Coffee (\u00a33.80 for 227g)<\/a><\/p>\n

Best specialist brand<\/p>\n

Grind House Blend (\u00a35.95 for 200g)<\/a><\/p>\n

Best for a treat<\/p>\n

Redemption Roasters The Block (\u00a38.90 for 250g)<\/a><\/p>\n

Best decaf<\/p>\n

Union Hand-Roasted Rich Decaf Ground Coffee (\u00a37.50 for 200g)<\/a><\/p>\n

Best half-caf<\/p>\n

M&S Fairtrade Half Caff Ground Coffee (\u00a34 for 227g)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[11716,52169,97,20045,59,102,655,56,54,55,95223],"class_list":["post-239354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-affiliated","tag-commercefooddrink","tag-dailymail","tag-editorial-impulse","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-lifestyle","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-you-mag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}