I’m an endurance athlete who quit caffeine for 30 days – the effect it had on my body went against what I’d been told

Like millions of Americans, Joel Runyon’s days are powered by a healthy dose of caffeine.

An endurance runner and fitness coach, he consumes anywhere from two to six cups of coffees’ worth, depending on his workout regimen.

But after ‘having trouble sitting still’ and feeling constantly restless, he decided to take up a no-caffeine challenge that would see him abstain for 30 days.

The Texan had read about others who’d followed a coffee-free lifestyle, which is becoming increasingly popular, who said they felt more energized and had better sleep and concentration.

But after ditching it for 30 days, Runyon said he was disappointed by the outcomes. ‘So what do I think of life without caffeine?’ he said, reflecting on his mini-experiment in a video online.

‘I think it’s pretty much worthless. 

‘I came into this actually thinking I was going to come off caffeine and level out and have like way more energy, way more clear-headed thoughts and just be like crushing it across the board.

‘[However], what I noticed was that I basically didn’t feel any benefits.’

Along with no benefits, Runyon said he was surprised to have no withdrawal symptoms.

Common side effects of cutting caffeine abruptly can include headaches, nausea, muscle pain, tiredness, difficulty concentrating and irritability.

But Runyon said he didn’t notice anything different about his performance at work or in the gym.  

He tells viewers: ‘I drink a lot of caffeine on a regular basis and I actually thought coming off of [it], I would have like a massive headache or the “caffeine hangovers” and that didn’t even happen. 

‘I just kind of came off at the beginning of the month. I just decided I was not going to drink it anymore… cold turkey… and it was totally fine.

‘That was actually the the most surprising part, because I thought I would definitely definitely have a headache or a hangover or something.’

Before the stunt, Runyon, who runs a fitness training and subscription business, consumed around 200mg to 600mg of caffeine through coffee and energy drinks. An average cup of coffee contains 100mg.

The FDA recommends that most healthy adults consume no more than 400mg of caffeine per day, which equates to two to three 12-ounce cups of coffee, ten cans of cola, or four-and-a-half 8oz cans of Red Bull.

In terms of his sleeping habits, Runyon said giving up caffeine didn’t make him sleep any better but he could ‘wake up easier’ in the mornings. 

On the diet side of things, the athlete revealed that with coffee and energy drinks off the table, he substituted them with unhealthier and more calorific alternatives, including hot chocolate and beer. 

While Runyon said he didn’t notice any benefits to giving up caffeine, he highlights that everyone has different tolerance levels to the stimulant and its effects.  

The content creator explains: ‘I think there’s something to do with activity level here. 

‘If you’re just sitting at your desk all day and drinking caffeine all the time, I can totally see how cutting it out is going to help you.

‘But if you’re an athlete and you’re using caffeine [for] your workouts and training and other things, I found from the friends that I know who are super active, [that] they have kind of a higher tolerance on caffeine.

‘If you’re taking in a lot of caffeine and your body’s utilizing that caffeine for performance that’s a whole different game than if you’re just drinking caffeine to drink caffeine… sitting at your desk.’

Overall, Runyon said the main benefit of the no-caffeine challenge was testing his mental strength and self-discipline.

He muses: ‘I always think it’s interesting what you can take out of your life and just voluntarily remove it so you’re not tied to it uh I think that’s a really good practice just from a self-discipline standpoint.’

While he says he would give up caffeine again for a reset, he says he doesn’t plan on doing it anytime soon and ‘life is definitely better with it.’

Runyon said that he took up the no-caffeine challenge because he noticed that he was ‘having trouble sitting still’ and felt constantly restless. 

Other people he saw who had given up caffeine for this reason, had deemed it a ‘game changer.’ 

Caffeinated drinks in the US are big business, with the market set to grow 5.2% from 2024 to 2030.

Consumers spent nearly $110 billion on coffee in 2022, and around $37.8 billion on energy drinks.

On average, Americans consume around 135 milligrams of caffeine per day, which is roughly equivalent to 12 ounces or one and a half cups of coffee.

In fact, the natural stimulant ranks as as one of the top most consumed dietary ingredients throughout the world, with tea and coffee being the most prominent sources.

The health benefits attributed to caffeine include increased alertness, energy, and concentration, while recent studies have linked it to weight loss. 

On the flip side, excessive consumption has been found to trigger tachycardia (a heart rate faster than a hundred beats per minute), anxiety, restlessness, tremors and jitters. 

But caffeine overdoses from beverages are rare and more likely to happen when it is consumed pill or powder form.