Cleanse
Juice Cleanse and Caffeine: How to Taper
That dreaded day-one headache? It's almost never the cleanse. It's caffeine withdrawal and it's largely avoidable. Taper your coffee gently over the days before instead of quitting cold and you head off the worst of it. Here's exactly how, plus what you can drink during and how to get back to coffee afterwards.
The Day-One Headache Is Caffeine
If you drink coffee, tea or cola every day and then stop dead on the morning of a cleanse, your body notices. That thumping headache people blame on the cleanse is nearly always caffeine withdrawal, the same one you'd get quitting coffee at any other time. The cleanse just happens to be when a lot of people quit.
The good news is that it's one of the most avoidable parts of the whole thing. Because it's about how suddenly you stop, not about the juice at all, a bit of planning in the run-up takes it off the table almost entirely.
Taper, Don't Quit Cold
The whole trick is to step down gradually rather than slamming on the brakes. If you ease your caffeine down over the few days before your cleanse, your body adjusts in stages instead of all at once and the withdrawal headache either never shows up or arrives as a faint shadow of what it would have been.
This is the single most useful thing you can do to make day one comfortable and it's why we bang on about it in how to prepare. Everything else about prep helps, but the caffeine taper is the one that saves you a genuinely bad head.
A Simple Step-Down
You don't need to be precise about it. Roughly halving your intake each step over the days before is plenty. Here's the shape of it, adjust to whatever your normal is.
| When | Caffeine |
|---|---|
| Three days before | Cut to about half your usual, say two cups instead of four |
| Two days before | Down to one cup, ideally in the morning |
| The day before | A small one if you need it, or switch to herbal tea |
| On the cleanse | Water and herbal tea, caffeine-free |
If you're a heavy coffee drinker, start the taper a little earlier and take it more gently. The bigger your usual habit, the more a gradual step-down pays off.
What You Can Drink
Alongside your juices, water and herbal tea are your mainstays and a warm herbal tea is genuinely comforting when a hunger wave hits. On coffee itself, a strict cleanse is best kept caffeine-free, since the point is a rest and a clean break. That said, we're realists: if you've tapered well and still want a single black coffee to get through a tough morning, it isn't going to ruin anything. Keep it black, keep it occasional and treat it as your call rather than a rule.
Green tea is a middle option if you want a small lift with less caffeine than coffee. Whatever you choose, keep the water going all day, since good hydration keeps every other side effect smaller too.
Handling the Withdrawal
If a headache turns up despite your best efforts, it will pass, usually within a day or two as your body finishes adjusting. Drink plenty of water, since dehydration makes it worse, rest where you can and lean on a warm herbal tea. Keeping busy and gently active helps more than lying in a dark room dwelling on it.
A withdrawal headache is uncomfortable but short-lived. If a headache is severe, unusual for you or won't shift, though, that's in the stop-and-check-in territory we cover in juice cleanse side effects.
Getting Back to Coffee
Come the end of your cleanse, ease back rather than diving straight into a triple espresso. A few caffeine-free days can lower your tolerance, so a big hit on top of an empty-ish stomach can leave you jittery. Start with one modest coffee and build back to your normal from there. Some people find they're happy on less than they used to drink, which is a quiet little bonus of the whole exercise.
Cleanses to Taper Into
Cold-pressed, vegetable-led and delivered frozen (or browse all our cleanse and fasting guides):
Frequently Asked
Can I drink coffee during a juice cleanse?
A strict cleanse is best kept caffeine-free, since the point is a clean break. But if you've tapered well and really want a single black coffee to get through a rough morning, it won't ruin anything. Keep it black and occasional and treat it as your call rather than a rule.
Why do I get a headache when I start?
It's caffeine withdrawal, not the cleanse. Stopping your usual coffee dead is the cause, which is why tapering over the days before heads it off. It's the same headache you'd get quitting caffeine at any other time.
How do I taper my caffeine before a cleanse?
Roughly halve it each step over the few days before. Something like two cups three days out, one cup two days out, a small one or herbal tea the day before, then caffeine-free on the cleanse. Heavy coffee drinkers should start a little earlier and go gently.
What can I drink instead during the cleanse?
Water and herbal tea are your mainstays alongside your juices and a warm herbal tea is comforting when hunger strikes. Green tea is a middle option if you want a small lift with less caffeine than coffee. Keep the water going all day.
How long does caffeine withdrawal last?
Usually a day or two if it turns up at all. Plenty of water, rest and a warm herbal tea help it pass and keeping gently busy beats dwelling on it. A tapered start means it's often barely noticeable in the first place.
How should I go back to coffee afterwards?
Ease back rather than diving into a triple espresso. A few caffeine-free days can lower your tolerance, so start with one modest coffee and build up. Some people happily settle on less than they drank before, which is a nice little bonus.
The Bottom Line
The day-one cleanse headache is caffeine withdrawal, not the juice and it's largely avoidable. Taper your coffee over the few days before rather than quitting cold, roughly halving each step, then keep to water and herbal tea during. If a headache turns up anyway it passes in a day or two with hydration and rest and when you're done, ease back to coffee gently.
Prepping properly? Read how to prepare for a juice cleanse for the full run-up and browse the cleanse and fasting hub for the rest.
Where to Start
Browse the full range in the cleanse and fast shop, or go straight to the Signature Cleanse, the 1-Day Cleanse or the 1-Day Green Cleanse.
Related reading
- Juice cleanse and exercise
- How to break a juice cleanse
- Common juice cleanse mistakes
- What's in a day of cleanse juice
- How many juices a day on a cleanse
- Why our cleanse is frozen
- Cold-pressed vs shop-bought cleanse
By goal
Related ingredient hubs
Join the list for the latest from The Pulp and your 20% off code lands there and then.
Join the list for the latest from The Pulp, and pick a free 500ml bottle of ginger or turmeric shots on your first order over £50.