What the max amount of caffeine you should be drinking in day looks like (2017)

I drink between 600ml and 1.2L a day and find that it has a positive impact on my mood. There is such a thing as "too much" where I'll get jittery and overbearing but it's a very high threshold.

When i started drinking coffee again after quitting for like 3 weeks, i instantly felt anxiety when i drank it again and a decrease in libido.

I'm honestly considering quitting for good and potentially switching to tea

I just love getting that morning cortado to "get in the zone". It really is hard to stop, not in a chemical sense but in a habitual/ritualistic sense.

For the 2 months I've cut down pretty drastically - No caffeine after 4pm. Only taking it on workdays, at 11am and 3pm. 1 shot per coffee (no large size or double shots).

Surprisingly, I haven't noticed any real negative effects. I think it would be worse going totally to zero. Maybe you'll be able to get the benefits you want by a reduction without going cold turkey?

Another thing to do your own research on, but I also started having Theanine alongside my coffee, and I feel like it's functioning as intended in terms of reducing jittery-ness, some of the random mild muscle twitches I sometimes got with high caffeine/low sleep, and less of that heavy heartbeat I sometimes used to get. Unfortunately there's considerate overlap between when I started reducing my caffeine intake and also supplementing Theanine, so I don't know how much to attribute to what...

Also, decaf does not taste noticeably different to me. I started ordering decaf e.g. on weekends, and it's made surprisingly little difference. I did get a few comments when my friends noticed, but no negative pressure, most people tend to be sympathetic to someone trying to reduce their caffeine intake I've found.

I do drink it occasionally because I really like the taste but I frequently end up regretting it.

I did end up cutting down in the sense that my life got healthier; where before it was easy to be in front of the computer sipping coffee or running from one staircase to another really fast literally all day, I got more things to do in my life that required time investment and reduced my intake from drinking coffee (and often espresso) sunup to midnight literally refilling cups the minute they were empty to about 8 or 9 cups a day. I discovered to my great surprise that I had never had social anxiety and didn't tolerate alcohol as well as I thought, and also that a lot more people in my life that I had known 1) noticed, 2) thought I had a problem and 3) did not find it funny.

I can't really cut it out now because I don't really think there's an alternative I'd like that isn't worse, but the improvement was there and the worst part is I would never have guessed it before. Like, I thought that stuff was all my personality. And the relationship stuff also was a major difference; in the sense that I was constantly complaining about not having a support system but also not leaving myself time for other people or allowing myself to feel "natural" pleasure from interaction with people.

But also I think it's pretty okay to drink coffee (eat cookies, play video games, whatever your poison of choice is). I don't see why so many people are trying to entirely "cut it out". All your habits that have become expected constants of your life, and not pleasurable luxuries, should be subject to scrutiny though. Do you need daily coffee (cookies, video games, whatever)? What do your loved ones think of that? Have you ever thought of doing a new activity, but decided against it because your ritual seemed more comforting?