0
0
Post Disclaimer
The information on this website is designed to offer self-care tips and recommendations based on evidence-based research and literature from professionals in each field. It is not intended to diagnose or treat any specific medical condition. Please consult with your healthcare provider before making any health-related decisions.
Listen to this article on the Self-Maintenance of the Brain and Body Podcast.
How does caffeine impacts your sleep quality, and when should you cease drinking caffeine to achieve quality sleep? Regulating caffeine consumption is a simple way to improve your sleep efficiency. Caffeine is considered a drug because it stimulates the nervous system causing increased alertness and cognition. However, this stimulation can disrupt various brain functions involved in ensuring efficient sleep.
Dr. Sergi Ferré, with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, explains that caffeine is the most consumed psychoactive drug in the world, and its impact on the brain shows all the pharmacological properties of classical psychostimulants, such as cocaine and amphetamine. Research explains that more than 80 percent of adults regularly consume caffeine. Caffeine negatively affects sleep quality, and its addictive properties make reducing consumption challenging as we attempt to improve our sleep quality.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends stopping caffeine consumption six hours before bed. Caffeine can stay in your system for up to ten hours. However, the half-life, or the amount of time it takes to lose half of its potency, is three to five hours. For this reason, you must cease caffeine consumption six hours before bedtime if you want to improve sleep quality.
There are some positive effects of caffeine, and if consumed six hours before bedtime, you can maximize some of these benefits without disrupting sleep quality. Caffeine is a stimulant that can aid daytime sleepiness and increase daily cognition. It does this by blocking a molecule called adenosine. Adenosine is the byproduct of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Your energy comes from ATP, and when the body burns up fuel. Adenosine makes you tired and activates several neural circuits of the pituitary gland, causing increased adrenalin production. Caffeine blocks the release of adenosine, reducing drowsiness and fatigue.
Some may be able to drink caffeine right before bed and still fall asleep, yet caffeine brings specific areas of the brain to alertness that should be dormant during sleep. You may not fully wake up at night with caffeine in your system, but your body is not fully recovering as it should as you transition through the four stages of sleep at night.
The circadian rhythm synchronizes sleep patterns with natural light and dark cycles and causes the body to fall asleep by releasing melatonin and adenosine. Not only does caffeine prevent the release of adenosine, but it also disrupts the natural flow of melatonin. A 2012 study published in the journal Food and Nutrition Research found that a single dose of 200 mg of caffeine within six hours of bedtime significantly decreases nighttime melatonin secretion.
Caffeine impacts deep sleep. This stage is responsible for the release of growth hormones needed to repair muscles and the stage of sleep when cleansing, refreshing, and repair of the brain occurs. Caffeine has also been found to affect the REM stage of sleep. This is the stage where we have vivid dreaming and go through natural mental health therapy and memory consolidation. Also, in this stage, the body experiences complete body paralysis preventing us from acting out dreams and allowing the bones and muscles to rest and recover completely. Studies also demonstrate that caffeine decreases sleep onset and increases nighttime awakenings. You may not become fully alert or aware of these nighttime awakenings as you sleep, but they are minor enough to disrupt your sleep.
I challenge you to stop consuming caffeine six hours before your scheduled bedtime. Try this for at least a month and reflect on how you feel and if it improves your overall health and well-being.
You can learn more about this topic in my new self-care book, Self-Health Andragogy: A Self-Directed Learning Approach to Mental and Physical Self-Care. It’s available on Kindle, print copy, and audiobook.
The information found on this website is intended to provide self-care tips and recommendations informed by evidence-based research. The information shared in on this website is not meant to diagnose or treat any specific medical condition. Please consult with your healthcare provider before making any decision that affects your health.
