So over the years, I became dependent on coffee to function everyday and I've been struggling with quitting coffee for a while. Whenever I tried to quit coffee, I become groggy and irritable. Drinking green tea didn't help either.
But lately, I discovered swiss water decaf coffee and that has helped me break the habit of drinking coffee in the morning. So I think I'll be able to quit coffee for good if I replace it with decaf. I also heard that you can get almost all of the antioxidants from decaf coffee.
But my question is
1) Do I really need to quit caffeine? One of the reason why I'm thinking about quitting caffeine is because I heard that it inhibits hippocampal neurogenesis. How bad is that and is it permanent? If so, is it reversible?
2) Does long-term intake of caffeine have any other negative impact on brain function?
3) How should one drink coffee to avoid inhibition of hippocampal neurogenesis and other negative side effects?
If there's no permanent, irreversible negative impact on brain function from long-term intake of caffeine, I don't see a reason to quit.
So what is your thoughts on caffeine. Should we or shouldn't we drink coffee for optimal brain function?