So here's the issue. Classes start at 3PM and end at 8PM. That means I'm on campus late, eat dinner there, and need a pick-me-up at dinner to make it through my harder courses that occur at the end of the day. Normally, coffee is the go-to, but it's too late in the day - meaning I'm unintentionally up way past when I need to sleep. Thus, I'm looking for suggestions that are just as effective without the caffeine, if possible. Any specific teas, perhaps?
You could try eating a low carb/low glycemic index dinner. Your body's insulin level spiking after you eat can lead to you feeling more sleepy and foggy-headed. You might try Gyokuro green tea, or maybe Matcha. It's got a different mix of caffeine and L-theanine, and might keep you up less. It still messes with my sleep, though. Don't underestimate the value of drinking enough fluids in general. Being well hydrated can make a big difference in wakefulness and concentration.
Looking into this after class today. Are you on this diet? And for the caffeine and L-theanine, I thought the latter was a relaxant. Intersting mix.You could try eating a low carb/low glycemic index dinner. Your body's insulin level spiking after you eat can lead to you feeling more sleepy and foggy-headed.
I dabble with keto and intermittent fasting, but I'm not strict about it. Low carb is handy for losing weight because it decreases appetite. I find it gives me a more steady energy. No energetic highs, but no crashes either. The important thing related to energy is that sugar (and high glycemic index foods that quickly turn into sugar) cause your blood glucose to go high, then low. This will make you feel more tired. Cognition also correlates with glucose levels, so eating a carb-heavy dinner before class is probably not optimal, due to the drop in blood glucose level. L-theanine is a relaxant, but it creates a nice focus when in the right balance with caffeine. I like the way it makes me feel-- it's like I can calmly direct my attention where I want it, or just relax. Caffeine by itself is more energetic, but way more intense. I won't claim caffeine+theanine is a nootropic, but some people think it is.
My dad is a high functioning alcoholic. He claims he did coke once in the seventies and never did it again because he liked it so much after that one time. That an acute addict avoided an addiction out of fear of pleasure is pretty amazing. I try not to give him credit for anything though. He's just awful.
Dated a girl for a long while whose father and grandfather were both psychiatrists. The grandfather, in order to get the father through medical school, wrote him prescriptions for amphetamines to stay up, quaaludes to come down and thorazine because occasionally the acid was a little too much and he needed to get back to work. They both snorted coke recreationally but oddly enough, the one thing they both ended up addicted to was alcohol. Mutherfuckin' all-drug olympics but for studying back then.
I mean, if you want a specific tea with hella caffeine, Pu Erh is the mother of all black teas. You wil find that it tastes like dirt. This is because it is somewhat fermented underground, strengthening/changing its energizing functions. Similarly, Yerba Mate is very energizing and I believe it is technically "caffeine free" - but only because it has a stupid amount of a caffeine-like compound called "mateine". I suspect that you'll run into the same problems that you do with coffee though, in that they'll keep you up longer than you'd like. In my opinion, the ideal type of tea for this - and any other number of purposes - would be a nice Oolong. Falls between Black and green teas as far as caffeine goes, and can be re-steeped up to 6 or so times. What I did in school was get a travel mug with a french press built in, put in a serving of oolong tea leaves, and go back to the Starbucks or food court for (free!) hot water refills every time I needed it. At the 6th resteep, there will be virtually no caffeine content left, but still some flavor. It's a good way to gradually decrease the amount of caffeine you're ingesting over time. I don't remember if you're in the US or not, but I highly recommend Strand Tea if you are. I live a town away from them now, but I've been buying from them since I started/ran the Tea Club at my college 4 years ago. Really solid prices, a good selection of a bunch of teas, honest people, and the shipping is fast and reliable - I usually got my packages 2-3 days later when I lived in NY. They should also have travel mugs that will work for infusing for sale too. If not, get a Bodum french press travel mug on amazon - I think mine was like 15 bucks when I got it. Still have it somewhere. An 8 oz. Bag of tea is like 100 tsp, if I remember correctly, which would be up to 600 steepings of Oolong. At 10 or so bucks, that's stupidly cost effective. If you buy from Strand Tea, my favorite Oolong of theirs is the "Three Treasures" - really unique, and has a tremendous depth of flavor that changes with each steeping.
Yerba Mate is absolutely not caffeine-free. Not even technically. It contains caffeine. Mateine is simply a marketing term for caffeine (source). Additionally, a lot of Mate sodas, for example Club-Mate, have a caffeine warning on the label. Anecdotally, it's ridiculously caffeinated, but in a good way, I guess. But I was not prepared for the levels of stimulation it gave me the first time I drank it, after a sleepless night.
Don't want to waste the Costco supply I have of green, but I love the idea of re-steeping tea throughout the day. I'll be sure to refer back to this once I'm finished with the box. Thanks for linking the site! I'm all the way down south in FL. P.S. I don't know if I've already written this, but I'm in love with Summahtune.
Push-ups, black tea, sunflower seeds, hot sauce, getting slapped in the face, pull-ups.
Why not stick to caffeine but go with something else such as green tea? I avoid coffee because it gets me awake too fast and makes me a little shaky while pipetting. Green tea however seems to spread out its effect through a longer period of time and doesn't get me all shaky. It should also be fine to sleep after, but it also depends on the time. You should not chug 1L of green tea just before sleeping :D
1) less caffeine in the morning so your body needs less of it to regulate. 2) more caffeine in the morning so your body is more impervious to its effects at night. You're reliant on stimulants for alertness. Stick to the stimulants you know. Alternatively, do 20 minutes on an elliptical or whatever before dinner. I have long substituted exercise for sleep, fat lot of good it's done for my physique, but it'll wake you up without keeping you up. (I have also been known to drink 60 oz of coffee in a day)
I don't know man, I think those podcast ads for Living Proof are finally getting to me after 50 episodes' worth, but I'll take your word for it. defaulting to the thought of showers since merely walking to classes out here works up a sweat. Had a poor prof on Monday who just moved over. Was late to class and rushed over only to realize the humidity + 90 degrees made his shirt see-through by the time he finished briskly walking into the room.
like coffee? cut that shit out. get on the tea like the rest of the civilized world. i have a cup of lyons in the morn and it does me til 11 ish and then as many as you can fit in. and real tea non of that herbal cookie shit, like most anything you'll get in the US is shite. get some lyons gold. change your life
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Is it possible for you to change your sleep cycle? Sounds like your problem is your classes are oriented around a 2nd shift schedule and your life is currently oriented around 1st. unless you've got a job or something forcing it to be that way, (and without sounding too harsh, instead of relying on artificial stimulants to help you power through) why not consider what the problem is and if you can fix the root? Cuz honestly, most of the alternatives to caffeine out there aren't worth it. From someone who's tried 'em. Plus, often pretty expensive.
Not at all harsh. Am I right in assuming the solution you're proposing is to make it more natural for me to get up later in the day for classes? If so, it's definitely easier. It's also way harder to get involved earlier on. I did have a job lined up before I got my schedule that was tutoring after school hours... which are now my school hours. Bottom line is I'm looking to keep schedule as is - without stay up 5 hours after classes end on accident. Hence, the thread. :) Not looking for anything hard core, rather simple lifestyle changes or solutions found here.
As a non-chemical suggestion, a few minutes of yoga and deep breathing do wonders for my alertness. I've learned that if I'm starting to flag at work I need to take a minute, go into my records room and hold a solid forward fold for a few minutes while breathing deep. A little extra oxygen and a stretch goes a long way to clear my head and bring me back down to earth.
I've always been a fan of caffeine-free tea at night. Even though it's not actually a stimulant...it feels enough like drinking caffeinated tea that the placebo effect works on me. Maybe that's because I want it to work, though. The human mind is a strange place. My go-to is green tea with mint, because I recall some study about how mint helps you concentrate or something?