Timing and moderation allow you to enjoy coffee, tea and other caffeinated beverages without disturbing your slumber. Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug in the world.
An estimated 85% of Americans drink one or more caffeinated beverages
per day, with coffee as the main choice, followed by tea, sodas, and
off-the-shelf energy drinks. Americans consume an average of 180
milligrams of caffeine daily—roughly the amount in two 8-ounce cups of
coffee.
Coffee and other caffeinated drinks can provide some important
benefits. Caffeine is a potent wake-up call in the morning and a
pick-me-up later in the day. In some people, it enhances concentration
and short-term memory. A recent review in Prehospital Emergency Care
of caffeine’s effects on emergency medical personnel found that
caffeine boosted alertness, agility, reaction time and coordination.
And, of course, coffee and tea are centerpieces of social interactions
in many cultures.
The benefits can come at a cost. Too much caffeine late in the day
tends to disturb sleep. But even in people who go to sleep clinics for
frequent insomnia, a surprising number of them don’t fully appreciate
the effect of caffeine, even when it’s consumed fairly early in the day.
What’s more, some research suggests that older adults may be more prone
to the effects of daytime caffeine on sleep than younger people. “You would think most people would be aware nowadays, but I would say
a quarter to a third of patients we see with insomnia do not realize
that their caffeine intake habits are affecting their sleep,” says
Khalid Ismail, MD, a pulmonologist and director of the Center for Sleep
Medicine at Tufts Medical Center.
Lingering Effects: Caffeine’s effect on sleep
depends not only on how much you ingest, but when you do so. Caffeine persists for a surprisingly long time in the body. According
to one study, participants had brainwave patterns characteristic of
shallower sleep up to 16 hours after ingesting the amount of caffeine in
a double espresso—even though the level of caffeine detectable in their
saliva had fallen to zero by the time they went to bed. The implication of that study is clear for those struggling with
insomnia.
For people who say they have trouble sleeping, the recommendation is
no caffeine at all after lunch time. But for people without obvious sleep problems, it’s harder to make a
general recommendation on what time of day to curtail caffeine. It peaks
in the blood about 2 hours after ingestion on average. But the time it
takes for the body to break down just half of that caffeine ranges from 3
to 7 hours.
The bottom line: It may be fine for some people to have an
after-dinner caffeinated beverage—as long as they can still sleep
restfully.
Sleep Quality Counts: Difficulty falling asleep is
just one effect of caffeine. Controlled sleep studies, which carefully
monitor the brain and body through the night, show that caffeine can
trigger repeated nighttime “arousals,” in which a person briefly wakes
up briefly without necessarily being fully conscious of having done so.
Arousals fragment sleep, which means a person spends proportionately
less time in the deeper, most restful stages of the natural sleep cycle.
So even though total sleep time remains steady, the quality of that
sleep may suffer. The results include grogginess, reduced mental
sharpness and slower reaction times.
What Should You Do? Occasional insomnia is not
necessarily a cause for concern, especially during stressful life
periods like moving, starting a new job or illness in the family. But if
you are having sleep problems more than once or twice a week, and it’s
persisted for months, talk to your doctor, who may refer you to a sleep
specialist, rather than immediately opting for over-the-counter sleep
aids or prescription sleeping pills.
Help avoid insomnia by adjusting the amount and timing of caffeine in your diet. Switch your afternoon and evening options to decaffeinated beverages and water, and see if you notice a difference.
But you don’t necessarily need to ban caffeine entirely. “If consumed
in moderate amounts, caffeine can be very useful,” he says. “But don’t
depend on it just to function, because that can lead to problems.”
Caffeine Without Sleeplessness
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