Clever drink hack tricks your brain to reduce caffeine cravings, expert claims

20 February 2023 , 10:52

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Scientists have found a clever hack that can reduce your caffeine withdrawal symptoms (stock image) (Image: Getty Images)

For many people, drinking coffee is a habit that forms part of their everyday routine – it may be as crucial as having breakfast or putting on socks in the morning.

Although a moderate consumption of coffee isn't likely to have any harmful effects, it's important to remember caffeine is addictive. For those who drink a lot of coffee, they may therefore notice caffeine withdrawal headaches if they suddenly stop drinking it.

So how do you get rid of those horrible withdrawal symptoms without ingesting anymore caffeine?

The good news is that through science a hack has been discovered that can take away that caffeine craving without actually having to drink coffee.

Many people feel like they need their morning cup of coffee (stock image) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

It may sound too good to be true, but experts now say that drinking decaffeinated (decaf) coffee is enough to satisfy your caffeine cravings, without the pesky side effect of keeping you up all night.

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Australian academics have said that decaf, although it contains trace amounts of the stimulant, has the ability to reduce withdrawal symptoms.

Scientists from the University of Sydney tested the decaf hack on 61 'heavy' coffee drinkers who all drank at least three cups a day.

First, they all spent a challenging 24 hours without any caffeine at all, and researchers monitored their caffeine withdrawal symptoms.

For the new study, which was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, they were split into three groups, two of which were given a cup of decaf coffee to drink, while a third were given water as a control.

A study found that drinking decaf coffee helped reduce the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal (stock image) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Only one of the groups was told they were drinking decaf, while the other group thought they were drinking regular coffee.

After 45 minutes the participants were asked to rate their caffeine withdrawal symptoms.

Experimental psychologist Dr Llewellyn Mills of the University of Sydney, said: "The group we lied to reported a big drip in caffeine withdrawal even though there's no pharmacological reason why it should.

"Because they expected their withdrawal to go down, it did go down — In other words, a placebo effect. We've found this in several studies now.

"What was interesting in this new study is that withdrawal symptoms also reduced even when people knew they were getting decaf. Not so much as the group we lied to, but a significant amount."

In other words, decaf coffee reduced the symptoms of withdrawal, even though it had no active caffeine ingredient – even in the people who knew they were drinking it.

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The researchers admitted that the reduction in withdrawal symptoms wouldn't be reduced completely, and further research would be needed.

Ariane Sohrabi-Shiraz