I Gave Up Coffee For 3 Months For My Hormones – Here’s What Happened

A few months ago I gave up coffee for 3 whole (and very long may I add) months. Why? I wanted to see if it would help support my imbalanced hormones. Here’s what happened…

Growing up I’ve always been a lover of green tea (didn’t expect that in a coffee post, did you?), but while I was at university, coffee quickly replaced that love. Hectic days juggling university work, a part-time job and my blog meant I became like every other adult who relied heavily on a caffeinated drink in the morning.

Two months ago though, after a year of reading tons of articles and studies that state how caffeine can disrupt hormone health, I decided to finally bite the bullet and put it to the test. But that wasn’t the only reason why I gave up coffee. Studies also show that caffeine can in fact increase anxiety levels and cortisol levels – both of which can affect your hormones too. So could giving up coffee for 3 months really help support my imbalanced hormones & daily anxiety? Well, I was about to find out…

Why I decided to give up coffee for 3 months

• To help support my imbalanced hormones
• To see if I would notice any significant changes to my cycle – such as earlier ovulation
• To see if it would improve my anxiety
• To see how it would affect my overall mood

What I learned the first month of giving up coffee

Giving up coffee was easier than I thought. Despite the mid-morning craving that came as Doug prepared his own Barista styled coffee which filled the air with that drool-worthy fresh coffee smell. But after a week of zero caffeine, I instantly noticed an improvement in my anxiety levels. Typically, I would always have my first hit of coffee mid-morning, but I quickly started to notice that soon after finishing I was often left feeling shaky (a sign that you’re body isn’t tolerating caffeine well) and anxious. So when I started to notice an improvement in my overall mood and anxiety levels, I instantly put two and two together.

My second learning was that I also felt ‘fresher’ and more hydrated as the weeks went on (as I obviously replaced my usual cup of coffee with water or green tea). By this time, I also stopped craving coffee and was quite fond of my new green tea routine, which left me without the shakes and even decreased levels of anxiety.

Here’s what happened when I gave up coffee for 3 months

Why 3 months, you might be asking? Because it takes 90 days for an egg to mature before ovulation. This means in order to see any changes in your hormone health, you need to try something for at least 3 months before seeing any results. I said to myself that if by the 3-month mark I hadn’t seen any positive progress in the health of my hormones, then I’d throw the bag in the bucket and drown myself in the dark stuff. Life’s too short to deny yourself of the things you love, right?

By month 2 I was still pretty much only seeing results in my anxiety levels and overall mood – I knew that in order to see any results in my hormones and menstrual cycle, I had to wait another month. So by the time month 3 rolled around, I was analysing my monthly BBT (basal body temperature) chart I like I’ve never analysed it before (as well as physical changes too).

As I approached ovulation during my third caffeine-free month, I noticed that I had ovulated 2 days earlier than usual – which I never usually do. For me, this was music to my ears as I usually ovulate a little later than the average ’14 day ovulation’ date. But sadly, that was the only difference I noticed when it came to my hormone health. My cycle was still pretty much the same and I was still suffering from signs of imbalanced hormones (irregular bleeding and ongoing bloating).

The best thing about giving up coffee

Although I didn’t notice any significant changes to my cycle and hormones, I don’t regret giving up coffee for those 3 months. If anything, it helped highlight the fact that coffee does in fact increase my anxiety levels and that I was suffering from caffeine jitters which often left me feeling shaky and sweaty. Opps.

It’s been almost 2 months (I think) since I broke my fast with coffee (I won’t lie, that first sip was heaven), and although I’ve gone back to drinking coffee, I drink it far less now so I can still go on supporting my body and its stress levels. Anxiety = stress. Coffee = anxiety. You get the picture.

During the 3 months I gave up coffee, I didn’t struggle to opt for a decaf coconut cappuccino, so even on the days when I met a friend for a coffee or worked at my favourite cafe, I didn’t feel like I was missing out. Plus, it’s worth it on the days I feel anxious too.

So no, giving up coffee for 3 months didn’t really help support my hormones the way I thought it would, but it did massively benefit my anxiety and mood. Although I did ovulate earlier on in the third month of going caffeine-free, I’m not sure it’s worth it (right now) to completely give up coffee for good. That said, if I saw more benefits (for my hormones) of going caffeine-free, then yes absolutely, I probably would give coffee up. But sadly I didn’t.

Would I recommend all women try giving up coffee for a couple of months? Absolutely. That’s the beauty of being different, you never know how your body will respond to something new unless you try it yourself. Would you ever try giving up coffee? Let me know in the comments below!

Hannah x

PS, you might find these blog posts below interesting too…

Why I’m Turning To Chinese Medicine To Help Balance My Hormones

My Journey With Acupuncture For Balancing My Hormones

How I Stopped Obsessing Over Fitness & Food