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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.