I Replaced My Morning Coffee With a Ginger Shot Years Ago, and It Seriously Changed My Life
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To say I was a kid who loved coffee would be an understatement. I was obsessed with it. During the summers I ordered Frappuccinos with loads of whipped cream on top. In the wintertime, it was Dunkaccinos from Dunkin Donuts, the hot chocolate-coffee hybrid that tasted like it was straight out of a dream. When other tweens were drinking soda and chocolate milk during lunchtime, I somehow managed to get my hands on the chilled "to-go" beverages from Starbucks — you know the ones that came in the glass bottle? Yes, I was hooked.
However, all of this changed during college. It was just around the time that I graduated from Mocha Frappuccino to Caramel Macchiato with soy milk that I started feeling coffee's negative effects. The caffeine made me jittery, anxious, and unfocused — symptoms that only intensified if I drank it on an empty stomach. I knew I needed to make a change and quick.
One day while walking around Whole Foods in a cranky, caffeinated haze, I came across a glass case full of ginger shots. I decided on a whim that this is what I would replace my coffee with, and I've never looked back. Here are all the ways it improved my health and my life.
Energy, Without the Crash
Ginger shots give me the same burst of energy I felt drinking coffee, but it isn't followed by the unbearable crash that so often left me anxious and uncomfortable. Now I give my mornings that extra oomph by making my own ginger shot, or by picking one up from a local grocery or health food store. My favorites are the Monfefo Ginger Shot ($48 for 12) and the Pull My Daisy ginger shooter at By Chloe.
A Stronger Immune System
Ginger is an anti-inflammatory, thought to soothe sore muscles and even help fight infection. Personally, I've noticed that I seem to suffer from fewer colds when drinking ginger every day, and the general malaise that once plagued me when the seasons changed has significantly decreased.
A Calmer Tummy
I experienced a lot of stomach pain and bloating while drinking coffee, and it's something I definitely don't miss after cutting it from my daily routine. Instead of uncomfortable tightness, I feel like things are working just as they should. And it's not just me: ginger is known to aid digestion and ease nausea.
Better Sleep
Coffee has a way of messing with your sleep schedule, and for some people that's true even if they cut themselves off by mid-afternoon. After quitting coffee completely, I noticed that I was able to fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer. No longer was I staying up until 2 a.m. on a weeknight, leaving me unrefreshed and groggy the next morning.