Beyond Coffee to Sustainable Energy Solutions
The following is adapted from Beyond Coffee by James Beshara.
About six years ago, I was diagnosed with a heart condition — an irregular heartbeat termed “atrial fibrillation.” I was twenty-six years old.
When the doctor told me the diagnosis, he asked me about my lifestyle, habits, stress, and exercise regimens. Then he asked how much caffeine I consumed each day. I told him that it was “anywhere between five and six cups” of coffee.
He nodded, barely reacting, as if I had confirmed something in his mind. Then, in a somewhat unsurprised manner, he said that my caffeine consumption was likely the major contributor to developing a condition like atrial fibrillation this early in my life.
He said, “James, with your condition, you really shouldn’t consume more than 80 mg of caffeine a day.”
“Okay, how much is that in terms of coffee?” I had no idea what I was about to agree to.
“Well, at five to six cups, you’re currently consuming about ten times that amount.”
Despite the fact that I had just heard the news that I had a heart condition (one that I didn’t know existed prior to that doctor’s visit, about which I didn’t know the implications nor the severity), I remember being most overwhelmed by my doctor’s suggestion that I reduce my caffeine intake to about half a cup of coffee.
At that time, I was running a company of seventy employees, and I couldn’t imagine taking my energy crutch away. I remember seeing article after article touting how great coffee was for you. I thought about bringing those articles up to my doctor. Then I remembered he was my doctor, not some person who was casually deriding my bitter, black, productivity muse.
Conversationally, we only spent a few more moments on the topic, because there were larger things to discuss (like going to the ER for a cardioversion; fun!). But in our subsequent meetings, in which he continued to make the case for decreasing my caffeine intake, he mentioned green tea (specifically matcha green tea) as a great alternative to coffee. It contained less than 80 mg of caffeine and, he said, “includes another compound called l-theanine that adds a calm focus in addition to the reaction of caffeine…It helps reduce the anxiety that coffee can give you as well.”
I can’t say it was game-changing at the time. But it did crack the door in my mind to an alternative to coffee. I was intrigued by the comment that another compound, when added to caffeine, could get me closer to what I was ultimately seeking in the first place: short-term and long-term productivity.
I took it for granted that coffee was the ambitious person’s best friend. But five years and forty-plus iterations with different compounds later, I have learned about the different compounds from around the world that allow me to consume a fraction of the caffeine I used to, yet produce a multiple of the energy and productivity that coffee once delivered. These compounds include adaptogens, anti-inflammatories, herbs, mushrooms, and brain-focused supplements, sometimes called nootropics.
I experimented, researched, and sought expertise on the good, the bad, and the ugly: the short-term boosts and long-term drains, the shortcuts, sifting through science and pseudoscience. I read research paper after research paper and heard anecdote after anecdote. What I came up with was a scientifically scrutinized, well-documented, natural, and sustainable approach to these compounds.
I also found a new morning routine to increase my productivity without sacrificing my health. Nootropics have helped me do what I once thought was impossible: curb my coffee habit.
For more advice on sustainable energy solutions, you can find Beyond Coffee on Amazon.
James Beshara is a startup founder and investor in San Francisco, CA. After developing a heart condition in 2013 from excess caffeine consumption, James became fascinated by the science and research backing up alternatives to caffeine for energy, productivity, and focus.
