Comment by Pitarou | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Pitarou | Hacker News Reader

I've given up caffeine for Lent[1]. It's been hard.

Beforehand, I knew I had a bad coffee habit. In a typical day I'd drink, maybe 6 or 7 mugs of strong coffee. I'd tried to cut down many times, but never succeeded; there just seemed to be too many reasons in my life to have another coffee.

So when Ash Wednesday (the start of Lent) came, I thought, "Now's the time to quit."

The first day was fine. I didn't notice anything. I guess I was still flushing the remaining caffeine out of its system.

The second day certainly wasn't. I had a headache, and felt tired, dizzy and confused.

The headache didn't last long, but the other symptoms persisted for about ten days. In hindsight, I should have consulted a physician before attempting this, because it could have aggravated other medical conditions I have.

I now have twelve days left of my caffeine fast. Do I feel healthier? Do I sleep better? No, not really; I feel pretty much the same as I did before, but without the urge to drink coffee all the time.

I think the real benefits will come when I let myself drink coffee again. I intend to only use it when I really need a pick-me-up. The less often I use caffeine, the more effective it will be.

[1] Lent is a period of 46 days' self-denial observed in many Christian churches.

> I've given up caffeine for Lent

I've heard from many people on HN and elsewhere individually choosing something to give up for Lent.

In my understanding, the traditional Lenten restrictions in most Christian churches that observe Lent are pre-specified dietary restrictions that are the same for everybody (for example, it was unexpectedly convenient for me as a vegan to visit Eastern Europe because the Eastern Orthodox churches' Lenten fast was similar to veganism).

Is the practice of giving up a personally-selected thing for Lent something that many people have chosen to do individually as a sort of new interpretation of the tradition, or is it now also recommended by some churches?

It has been standard practice in the latin-rite (i.e. western) Roman Catholic church at least since Vatican II. There are also specific dietary restrictions (fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, abstaining from the flesh of land-animals on every Friday during lent).

I know a lot of this changed with Vatican II; in particular the no-meat on Friday rule was previously year-round, and it is now purely during lent, though one is supposed to do some form of abstinence on Fridays year-round.

I had thought that giving up things for Lent was peculiar to the Roman Catholic and Orthodox religions until I chatted with friends in High School (1990s) and found that some Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations also encouraged the practice.

[edit]

I also forgot to mention that a large fraction of Protestant congregations are either not part of any particular denomination, or are part of a denomination that is fairly silent about appropriate ways of daily worship; individuals in those denominations often eclectically adopt forms of worship from other denominations.

I can only really speak from the Roman Catholic perspective, but traditionally there are three pillars of Lent: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. The requirements for fasting have varied over the centuries. The strictest fast is the Black Fast [1], which was regularly observed (I think) sometime around the Early or High Middle Ages. It's similar to the fast observed by the Orthodox, though it intensifies during Holy Week (only bread, salt, herbs, and water allowed). Up until the early twentieth century or so, Catholics were required to fast every day of Lent except Sundays [2] (i.e., take only one full meal a day with two small meals that cannot, combined, form a full meal).

In the modern Roman Catholic Church the fasting requirements have been substantially relaxed. The only requirements are fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstaining from meat on Fridays. The other days of Lent are still penitential days, but the bishops of the region have the authority to determine the form of the penance. In the United States the bishops have stated that it is acceptable to substitute fasting for some other form of penance determined by the individual.

My impression is that the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches still observe a much more rigorous fast, more like the Roman Catholic Church used to a few centuries ago. As a side note, I've always been the most impressed with the Coptic Christians. They observe, by far, the most rigorous fasting schedule. They fast 210 days out of the year! [3]

[1]: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02590c.htm

[2]: Hence Lent is strictly speaking only 40 days (a more biblically significant number) because the Sundays are excluded from the fasting.

[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting_and_abstinence_of_the_...

I can only speak for Roman Catholicism. The only required Lenten restrictions are abstaining from meat on Fridays and fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. These restrictions are for everyone (apart from age and health exceptions).

Traditionally, Catholics choose to do additional self-discipline during Lent. The big three things that the Catholic Church encourages are increases in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The fasting part is where people often give up some type of food or drink, like coffee.

So the practice of giving up a personally-selected thing is not required, but it is encouraged and traditionally done as a way to come closer to God and prepare for Easter.

My experience as an Orthodox Christian in America is that the Lenten fast is pretty much the same for all Orthodox in being basically vegan. There are also restrictions around the use of oil and wine, but those tend to be not as commonly followed. In addition, for most of the year Orthodox fast similarly on every Wednesday and Friday. Of course, age and medical conditions affect this.

Increased prayer and almsgiving are also part of the Lenten fast; one idea is that the money you would have spent on meat and cheese should instead go towards charity. In my experience, I haven't really found other Orthodox specifically give up a particular thing intentionally, except for incidentally in the sense of spending more time in prayer means less time for video games, for instance. :)

What's most important is achieving self discipline in not being controlled by food. If we fast from meat but "consume" our neighbor through gossip, for instance, then we've missed the whole point.

I gave up caffeine for 2 years. Got tired of drinking just water, beer or milk. Sodas and coffee w/milk sugar are too tasty.

All I did to quit was pop advil for a few days. Quitting caffeine wasn't remotely difficult physically. I used to drink 3-4 liters of soda a day, so not some small amount. I quit because I was worried about diabetes even though I was a healthy weight (as per my doctor's instructions).

My experience is pretty much the same. I sleep and function just as well (or badly) without caffeine now as I used to do with several cups of coffee, before I quit (2 years ago). The big bonus for me is in the mornings. I don't need several cups of coffee to wake me up anymore. When I get up I am as awake as I used to be after breakfast.

Be careful when you try to drink it again. One cup of coffee is enough to get me from a hard-to-focus-after-lunch-dip to fully awake and focused. If I drink another cup I become all jittery and have symptoms resembling a minor panic attack.

Good luck!

I've gone cold turkey on caffeine a couple of times - usually I crave chocolate (presumably because of the caffeine). What I've learnt is to be sure to drink other things as otherwise the dehydration makes the headaches far worse.

When I worked in an office I'd drink coffee as an excuse to take a break, switched to fruit teas (careful they're not all caffeine free). Ginger cordial makes a lovely hot drink too.

I'm only giving up coffee, not caffeine, but I still miss the real thing a lot. I didn't have any headaches though.

I'm not sure how much caffeine I'm able to administer through mate - but it must be much, much less.

I also haven't noticed it influencing my sleep or anxiety - I'm still anxious and I sleep well most days.

I just couldn't taste the thing anymore, it was very bland..

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