Healthy & Easy Coffee Alternatives

No I’m not crazy—I’m very certain everyone in law school will have/has increased their caffeine and sugar intake during school.

I’m not really anti-coffee. Coffee by itself has a lot of benefits, but if you’re like me—it’s not the coffee but the sugar and cream that makes it unhealthy. I also try to limit my coffee-intake because I don’t like being the type of person that can’t function without some type of substance. I have enough vices and don’t need to add one more, you know?

In the last year, I felt like I was drinking (and buying) too much sugary coffee and decided to stop what for me is a bad habit. So for the past few months, I have been trying different things in the morning that give me energy, but I don’t feel so guilty about consuming. Here’s what has worked:

One. Tea. This is such a simple alternative to coffee. It’s warm, flavorful, and isn’t just empty calories. I live for peppermint tea, which also happens to increase alertness. It’s so easy to keep a tin of your fave tea at the office (or your school locker) and reach for a bag rather than going off to buy a cup of coffee. This was my go-to drink when I was getting off my one-tall-latte-a-day habit.

Two. Fruit infused water. A little more complicated than tea, and perhaps not as soothing as warm coffee, but so much more refreshing. I remember when I first saw someone with cucumber in their water, years ago, and I was like what?! But since then, I have loved mixing fruits in water, and when I have it in the morning at work, I just don’t feel the need to go out and buy coffee. Right now, I prefer mixing lemon and blueberries, but there are literally so many options.

Three. Green juice. For the past two months, I’ve been on a green juice kick. Very different than my old breakfast, which was a green smoothie. Green juice doesn’t have any dairy and it is vegetable heavy. You don’t need a juicer—just a semi-strong blender. I usually mix spinach, cucumber, water, chia seeds, pineapple and an orange. But a few other favorites include mixing pineapple and mint; green apple and cilantro; avocado and blueberries—the idea is to go heavier on the veggies than the fruits, but the great thing is that you can’t really taste the vegetables. I would recommend investing in reusable straws.

This does take longer, and is a breakfast substitute rather than just a morning cup of coffee. But it provides so many benefits, plus having the juice means I definitely won’t buy a cup of coffee so it’s really worth it in the end.

Are you a coffee-forever kind of woman or are you going to venture out and try some different options?