How I Wean Myself Off Coffee

 How I Wean Myself Off Coffee

This goes back to my stay in United Kingdom in 1980s when Mrs. Margret Thatcher was the Prime Minister. England was just recovering from the Winter of Discontent in 1979. Mr. Arthur Scargill had to flee and I was an ardent Labour supporter.          Then, homosexuality was a criminal offence. 

All these changed due to American influence and the eventual decadent deterioration.

British were hard coffee drinkers. 

My British co-partner in clinical paediatrics was Mike Rawle. 

We managed to go on a shopping free to Sheffield from Barnsley.

He was very good guy, Sheffield born.

He wanted to show me the important places in Sheffield that included the Coffee Store, which was huge may be at least 20 stores or more. Each level had a different types of coffee from various countries. 

His level was either 11 or 12. We went their and he bought his variety of beans and asked me whether I buy any coffee.

I said NO, I am a Tea Drinker by default.

I prefer buying some chocolates, instead, I responded.

There is a caveat here. 

When I was offered chocolates in the hospital I used to refuse.

I used to say to the nurses we sucked cocoa beans and these seeds carry Infectious Hepatitis. 

It was a big lie. 

British at that time never lie (I do not know what is the situation now). 

They believed me. One day, I got caught to nurses while eating a chocolate bar on Sheffield streets.

They said you are a cheat.

I responded, why did you believe me in the first instance. This only lasted three months and I bought them lot of chocolates and said: “It was all for Sport and You were All Good Sports, believing me”.

Here after no more lies and you have to trust me when I say something in my clinical work. 

Paediatrics is serious work, I told them. 

If you forget to do something say so and we move forward from that point of minor lapse.

All my life, I never lied in my clinical work and that stood good for me in my career in U.K.

I applied the same ploy in New Zealand and they believed me. 

I could not do that in Australia in my retirement but I am in that mode never to lie even for a joke. 

I do not want lose any of my near and dear friends.

There was another caveat.

The Tea in England was horrible.

Coffee at railway stations was the worst.

I used to keep a stock of Ceylon Tea.

But gradually, I became a Coffee addict.

It stated showing signs and symptoms.

I lost my coordination, if I miss a cuppa.

This happened around the age 34.

I used to drop syringes and needles.

This was not due t alcohol and never took even a sip if i was on call. 

I loved British wines a lot. Never beer.

I did not have tremors but thundering headaches were common.

Strangely it did not effect my sleep.

I love Moccano coffee but have one once in 10 days.

Moccona coffee, a popular brand known for its premium taste, originated in the Netherlands, specifically in the village of Joure. The company was founded in 1753, and originally sold in delicatessens and speciality stores. While Moccona was born in the Netherlands, it is now known and enjoyed in many countries, including Australia, where it gained popularity with its iconic cylindrical glass jar and gold label

A bit of history of coffee is relevant.

Legend has it that the first coffee beans were discovered by a goat herder named Kaldi, who noticed his goats becoming energetic after eating berries from a bush. Kaldi then shared his discovery with a monastery, where monks brewed a drink from the berries and found it kept them alert during long prayer sessions.

Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, is a coffee that consists of partially digested coffee cherries, which have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). The cherries are fermented as they pass through a civet's intestines, and after being defecated with other faecal matter, they are collected.

 Asian palm civets are increasingly caught in the wild and traded for this purpose.

Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the Indonesian islands o fSumatra, Java, Bali, Sulawesi, and in East Timor. It is also widely gathered in the forest or produced in farms in the islands of the Philippines, where the product is called Kape motit in the Cordillera region, Kapé alamid in Tagalog areas, Kape meloor Kape musang in Mindanao, and Kahawa kubing in the Sulu Archipelago.

Kopi luwak is also produced in Palawan'sLangogan Valley. The beans from droppings of the Asian palm civet and Palawan binturong (Arctictis binturong whitei) are collected from the forest floor and cleaned.

Producers of the coffee beans argue that the process may improve coffee through two mechanisms: selection, where civets choose to eat only certain cherries and digestion, where biological or chemical mechanisms in the animals' digestive tracts alter the composition of the coffee cherries.

Coming to my coffee addiction, one day, one of the nurses showed me an article in one of the Nursing Journals.

It was named “Caffeine Syndrome’.

I read it about 10 times and I had all the signs and symptoms.

One day, I excuse myself from work and went thought a full medical. 

I thought it was “Transient Ischaemic Attack”.

Dr. Mubarak himself gave a call to the Consultant in Medicine and made an appointment.       

I was given 10 day holiday to recuperate.

You are not allowed to work until you get full clearance. 

I was medically cleared fully and I decided to wean myself of coffee.

No problem at all.

Tea was a good substitute supplemented with good chocolates. 

Virgin Chocolates was not known, then.