How to quit energy drinks gradually

Most people make the same mistake when giving up energy drinks.

They have two cans in the evening, then decide that from tomorrow they will never touch one again. That can work for some people, but with regular or larger intake it often turns into headaches, fatigue, irritability and difficulty concentrating.

Then day two arrives, when you have to work, have to drive, or simply have to get through the day like a normal person.

At that point it is easy to conclude:

I just cannot do this.

Yet the problem is not necessarily your willpower. You may simply have tried to change a habit too quickly — one that both your body and your daily routine had adapted to.

First find out how much caffeine you actually have

Before you start cutting energy drinks, spend a few days honestly writing down everything that contains caffeine.

Energy drinks are not the only thing that counts.

Write down:

• energy drinks,
• coffee,
• cola,
• black and green tea,
• iced tea,
• pre-workout supplements,
• caffeine tablets,
• and every other caffeinated product.

This matters because it is easy for someone to talk about having one energy drink a day while also drinking two coffees and several glasses of cola alongside it.

For an average energy drink at 32 mg/100 ml:

• 250 ml contains roughly 80 mg of caffeine,
• 330 ml roughly 106 mg,
• and 500 ml roughly 160 mg.

On top of that you may have a morning coffee, an afternoon coffee and the cola you drink during the day.

So build your reduction plan around your total daily caffeine where you can, not around the number of cans.

According to EFSA, up to 400 mg of caffeine consumed across the day generally raises no safety concern for healthy adults. That is not a target, though, and individual sensitivity varies considerably.

Do not track your ideal day

Do not write down how many energy drinks you would like to have.

Write down how many you actually have.

It is worth logging your intake for at least three days, ideally seven. That way the difference between weekdays and the weekend becomes visible too.

For example:

In this example the person does not necessarily feel they had a lot of caffeine. The total, however, is already around 400 mg.

The “why did you have it?” column matters at least as much as the caffeine figure.

It shows whether you really drink energy drinks because of tiredness, or whether they are tied to a particular situation:

• starting work,
• driving,
• gaming,
• training,
• shopping,
• the petrol station,
• lunch,
• stress,
• boredom,
• bad sleep.

Decide what your real goal is

Not everyone has the same goal.

You may want to give up energy drinks entirely. You may only want to go from one a day to once or twice a week at first. Or from three cans a day down to one.

All of those are valid goals.

A goal that is too big, however, quickly becomes unmanageable.

Instead of saying:

I will never drink an energy drink again.

it may be better to define something like this first:

• Next week I will drink 500 millilitres less per day.
• This week I will drop the evening energy drink.

A specific, measurable goal makes it immediately obvious whether you managed it. “I will drink less” is too vague, and it is easy to feel like you are making progress while the actual amount barely changes.

How much should you cut at a time?

There is no single perfect pace that works for everyone.

For regular or heavier caffeine intake, clinical summaries often suggest reducing by roughly 25–50 percent every few days to keep withdrawal symptoms down. The FDA also recommends a gradual reduction for people who have caffeine every day.

In practice, though, many people find smaller steps more comfortable.

For example:

• from three cans a day down to two,
• from two 500 ml cans to one 500 ml and one 250 ml,
• from one 500 ml can a day to 330 ml,
• then to 250 ml,
• and finally only on certain days.

Each step does not have to last exactly the same length of time.

If after three or four days you no longer get much of a headache or fatigue, cut further. If the symptoms are strong, stay at the current level for a few more days.

The point is not to reach zero as fast as possible. The point is to find a pace you can genuinely see through.

A simple two-week taper example

Say you currently drink two 500 ml energy drinks a day.

With average caffeine content that is roughly 320 mg of caffeine a day from energy drinks alone.

One possible plan:

Day 1–3

Keep the first 500 ml drink, and swap the second for a 250 ml one.

Daily caffeine from energy drinks:

• before: roughly 320 mg,
• now: roughly 240 mg.

That is already a 25 percent reduction, but nothing like the change of dropping them entirely overnight.

Day 4–6

Stay on a single 500 ml energy drink a day.

Estimated caffeine: roughly 160 mg a day.

At this point you have already halved the original amount.

Day 7–9

Swap the 500 ml can for a 250 ml one.

Estimated caffeine: roughly 80 mg a day.

Day 10–12

Do not have an energy drink every day.

Have one every other day, for example, and pick a caffeine-free drink on the days in between.

Day 13–14

Try going without an energy drink entirely.

If stopping completely is not your goal, this is the point where you can switch to, say, one or two planned occasions a week.

This is only a template. With a larger daily intake or strong symptoms you may need a slower pace.

Do not drop every source of caffeine at once

Say that in a day you have:

• two energy drinks,
• two coffees,
• and half a litre to a litre of cola.

If you drop all of those overnight, your total caffeine intake falls off a cliff.

It is no surprise then if a strong headache, drowsiness, irritability or difficulty concentrating shows up. The most common symptoms of caffeine withdrawal include headache, fatigue, low mood and worse concentration.

It is generally simpler to reduce one main source of caffeine.

Energy drinks first, for example, while your morning coffee stays as it is for a while. Later, once you feel steady without energy drinks, you can decide whether you want to change the coffee or the cola too.

This is not cheating.

The goal right now is to reduce your energy drink intake, not to change every one of your habits in a single day.

Do watch out, though, that you do not automatically replace the energy drink you dropped with three more coffees. That would not necessarily reduce your caffeine at all — you would just be getting the same amount from a different source.

Drop the least important can first

Not every energy drink is equally hard to give up.

You may be very attached to the morning can while the afternoon one gets opened purely out of habit. Or the one at work feels more important, while the one during evening gaming is easier to replace.

You do not necessarily have to drop the first can of the day right away.

Start with the one that:

• you would miss least,
• you do not even really enjoy any more,
• only appears out of routine,
• is too close to bedtime,
• or is easiest to swap for another drink.

That alone improves your chances at the very first step.

Shrinking the can is often easier

Stopping completely can feel like a huge change in your head.

Choosing a smaller can, on the other hand, barely changes the routine:

• you still buy it,
• you still open it,
• you still drink it,
• you just take in less caffeine.

If you regularly drink half-litre energy drinks, switching to the 250 ml version roughly halves the caffeine you take in at once.

This can be a particularly good first step if what you would miss is not the effect but the taste, the act of opening the can, or the break itself.

Just watch that you do not end up drinking two of the smaller cans back to back. That way you only pay more for the same amount.

Push the first energy drink later

Plenty of people reach for an energy drink right after waking, or at the very start of the working day.

You do not necessarily have to stop that immediately. Delaying it can be enough as a first step.

For example:

• by 30 minutes in the first week,
• by an hour later on,
• then until lunch,
• and finally only drinking one when you genuinely feel you need it.

This breaks the automatic link between waking up, or starting work, and having an energy drink.

Along the way you may also discover that on some days you do not actually need one. You only had it because that is the time you always do.

Move the evening can up your list

Caffeine in the late afternoon or evening can make falling asleep harder and reduce sleep quality. According to EFSA, as little as 100 mg of caffeine may affect some adults’ sleep when consumed close to bedtime.

That easily becomes an unpleasant loop:

1. you have an energy drink in the evening,
2. you sleep worse,
3. you wake up tired the next day,
4. so you have another energy drink,
5. and by the evening you need one again.

That is why it is often worth starting your reduction with the evening or late-afternoon can.

Not only does your daily caffeine come down, your sleep may improve too. And if you sleep better, your need for an energy drink the next day is naturally smaller.

Have an alternative ready

The energy drink cannot always just leave an empty space behind it.

If you have been sipping something constantly while driving, working or gaming, it is probably not only the caffeine you will miss. You may miss the taste, the cold drink, the fizz, or simply having something in your hand.

Workable alternatives include:

• cold sparkling water,
• caffeine-free cola,
• flavoured sugar-free water,
• lemonade,
• fruit tea,
• caffeine-free iced tea,
• decaf coffee,
• sugar-free gum,
• a bottle you filled in advance.

There is no point pretending a glass of lukewarm water gives exactly the same experience as a cold energy drink.

It probably will not.

Look for an alternative you genuinely enjoy. A perfectly healthy substitute you find unpleasant is unlikely to work long-term.

Treat the caffeine and the habit separately

Drinking energy drinks generally has two parts.

One is your body’s adaptation to caffeine. The other is the routine itself.

The physical part can be handled with a taper over days or weeks. The routine, though, can resurface later.

Weeks after giving up energy drinks you may still want one:

• when you see them at the petrol station,
• when you sit down to play,
• when you have a stressful day at work,
• when you slept badly,
• when someone next to you is drinking one,
• or when you see them on offer at the shop.

What you are feeling then is not necessarily caffeine withdrawal.

Your brain may simply have linked that situation with an energy drink.

So it is worth preparing a simple answer in advance for every recurring situation.

For example:

• Petrol station: I only buy water or a caffeine-free soft drink.
• Gaming: I chill a different fizzy drink beforehand.
• Afternoon slump: I eat first and walk for ten minutes.
• Bad sleep: I start the day with breakfast rather than a large can, and decide later.
• Stress at work: I take a five-minute break before automatically going for an energy drink.

What about the headache?

Headache is a common caffeine withdrawal symptom, particularly after an abrupt reduction. Tapering can help precisely because it may reduce or prevent these symptoms.

If your head starts hurting, first check whether:

• you have drunk enough,
• you have eaten properly,
• you have slept enough,
• you did not cut the caffeine too fast.

If the symptom clearly followed a reduction, it may be worth staying at the current level for a few more days before cutting further.

A bad headache is not proof that you need an energy drink.

It is a sign that your body had got used to the previous amount of caffeine.

What to do after a badly slept night

Poor sleep is one of the strongest triggers there is.

It is entirely understandable to look for a quick fix. The problem is that if you have another energy drink later on, you may spoil the following night’s sleep too.

On a day like that, do not expect yourself to be as energetic as when you are rested.

Try thinking in terms of damage control instead:

• do not exceed the daily amount you set in advance,
• have the caffeine earlier in the day,
• do not buy a bigger can just because you are tired,
• eat properly,
• get outside briefly,
• and go to bed earlier if you can.

One bad night does not ruin the reduction. What does drag you back is abandoning the limit you set because of it.

What if you do drink more?

You do not have to start everything over.

Say you held at one can a day for a week, and then had two on a difficult day.

That does not mean the whole week is lost.

Go back to the plan the next day.

Do not try to cut caffeine out entirely as a punishment, and do not decide it no longer matters either. With a single slip, the problem is generally not the extra can — it is going back to your old daily amount because of it.

It is better to look at:

• What triggered it?
• Did you sleep badly?
• Had you not eaten?
• Did you have no other drink with you?
• Were you stressed?
• Were you in company?
• Did you simply fancy one?

Based on the answer you can make a better plan for the next similar day.

Count the progress, not only the cans

While cutting down it is easy to notice only the times you did not stick to the plan exactly.

Yet progress comes in several forms:

• you drank fewer cans,
• you chose a smaller size,
• you had the first one later,
• you dropped the evening caffeine,
• you had a completely energy-drink-free day,
• you did not automatically buy one at the petrol station,
• you wanted one but waited ten minutes,
• you carried on with the plan the day after a slip.

All of those are real results.

The goal is not to never want one. The goal is for an energy drink to stop being the automatic answer to every tired, stressed or boring moment.

When should you ask for help?

Tapering caffeine is something most people can manage at home, and withdrawal is typically unpleasant but self-resolving.

It is worth talking to a doctor, however, if:

• you are pregnant or breastfeeding,
• you have a cardiovascular condition,
• you regularly get strong palpitations,
• you get chest pain,
• you faint or come close to fainting,
• your anxiety or panic-like symptoms get significantly worse,
• you take medication that may interact with caffeine,
• or you consume very large amounts of caffeine.

The FDA specifically recommends discussing your caffeine intake with a healthcare professional if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or have an existing health condition.

In short

Giving up energy drinks does not have to be one big decision.

It is often easier if you:

1. write down every source of caffeine for a few days,
2. work out your actual daily amount,
3. drop the least important energy drink first,
4. switch to a smaller size,
5. reduce a little further every few days,
6. do not drop every source of caffeine at once,
7. have a genuinely drinkable alternative ready,
8. and simply carry on with the plan after a worse day.

How long it takes you to reach zero is not what matters.

What matters is that the reduction lasts, and that in a few weeks you are not back where you started.

The gradual method is perhaps less dramatic than dropping everything overnight.

It is also far more likely to become a real change.