Are you the person who drink two, three cups of coffee, no matter what time of the day? After reading this article, you shouldn't continue that bad habit and we will explain why.
It's no coincidence that the Swedish people have made the coffee become a break true lifestyle. From morning coffee to the little black swallowed from the zinc of a bistro counter, to the Americano sipped in the metro by reading the newspaper and the one shared with colleagues at the automatic machine after lunch: there are thousands of ways to enjoy the cup or cups of coffee you drink in the day. Synonymous for some fuel to stay efficient throughout the day, the cup of coffee is for others a real opportunity to decompress, create the link, or instead focus.
If drinking coffee is all about social activity, caffeine consumption that it generates has nothing trivial. Numerous scientific studies have in the past shown that regular and significant consumption of caffeine produces tolerance in heavy coffee drinkers. To feel awake and refreshed, they must increase their coffee intake, and any sudden withdrawal leads to side effects such as irritation and headaches.
Drinking too much coffee also affects the quality of our sleep. We already knew that drinking coffee when the day is already well advanced prevents a good night's rest. When should you drink your last coffee of the day to sleep like a baby?
Even drunk in the morning, a coffee can affect sleep
Researchers at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Research Center and the Wayne State College of Medicine have looked at this issue by looking at how caffeine disrupts sleep when it is consumed at different times in the night and day.Their experience focused on twelve healthy men and women, regular consumers of coffee in moderate amounts. During the study, they maintained their sleep patterns. All slept between 6.5 and 9 hours each night, without sleeping at any time of the day.
The researchers monitored the signs of sleep disturbances using a sleep monitor and found that consumed at 0 or 3 hours before bedtime, caffeine has a significant effect on sleep disturbance. Consumed 6 hours before going to sleep, she also affected sleep for over an hour. The quality of sleep was also affected by coffee consumption, including when the last cup was drunk 6 hours before going to sleep.
The results also highlight something interesting: according to them, the perception of the effects of caffeine on the body doesn't indicate how it will affect sleep. In other words, participants may not have felt the effects of caffeine in their body, but it has always affected the quality of their sleep. Just like that, the "Guinea pigs" who drank their last cup of coffee 6 hours before going to sleep didn't report any effect on the quality of their sleep, unlike those who consumed coffee 3 hours or 0 hours before bedtime. However, the results displayed by the sleep monitor showed that the quality of their sleep was impacted by caffeine consumption.
To rely solely on our perceptions of how caffeine affects our body is therefore not very reliable. Think about it before you go get that last cup of the long sweet coffee machine.
And if really, you can't do without your shot of caffeine, here are the rules to follow for sleep well:
- Do not drink coffee after 14 hours.
- Limit to 4 cups maximum per day.
- Reduce caffeine intake as the day goes on. You can drink a big coffee in the morning at 9 o'clock. In the afternoon, it is niet, under penalty of screwing up your night's sleep.
- Use a small cup. The smaller the cup, the sooner you finish it and the more you will feel.
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