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Last updated: July 14, 2021
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How to sleep after drinking coffee? Funny but true. Research has shown that millions of people have insomnia after drinking coffee. This is because the majority of these people are doing certain things wrong as regards this beverage.
Many people do not understand the metabolism of coffee. It takes an average of 6 hours for half of the coffee intake to be metabolized. This means that after dinner or late at night, coffee is a bad idea.
This tiny act has caused huge disruption in the sleep patterns of such individuals. The active ingredient in coffee is caffeine, which is a stimulant that inhibits the production of sleep-inducing hormones in the brain. In simple words, as long as caffeine is not digested in your body, it takes longer to fall asleep.
However, there are helpful tips that you can follow to help induce sleep despite this but first and foremost is to note that you do not take coffee 6 hours to bedtime.
How Does Caffeine Work?
Caffeine is a substance found in coffee that stimulates the production of certain chemicals by blocking sleep-inducing chemicals in the brain, thereby increasing the adrenaline production in the body. Research shows that taking coffee has numerous health benefits for your body. This includes:
Reduced risks for various diseases;
Weight loss by burning fat;
Fights depression, thereby increasing happiness;
Increased productivity.
Also, caffeine contains essential nutrients like:
Riboflavin;
Manganese;
Pantothenic acid;
Magnesium;
Potassium and niacin.
Despite its health benefits, taking too many cups is not ideal for your body. It is because it can disrupt your good night’s sleep. It takes an average of 5 to 6 hours to metabolize half of the caffeine consumed.
Dependence or addiction to drinking coffee poses a serious threat to the health of individuals. By just getting an hour and 30 minutes less of sleep can reduce productivity and alertness by 37 percent. This is dangerous as it poses a huge threat to the productivity of the individual.
Also, taking coffee too late can disrupt sleep patterns. So before you take that late-night coffee, try to weigh the consequences of your proposed actions.
Switch to the decaffeinated ones or try taking herbal tea. This way, you’re sure that you’re not causing any damage to your health.
Before you drink that after-dinner espresso or late-night cold brew, try plugging it into our coffee calculator to see how it will affect your night, and consider switching to decaf or herbal tea.
Methods to Fight Insomnia
Exercise
Exercising is a great way to fight insomnia, as regular exercise has been proven to improve sleep quality. All it requires is at least 30 minutes of an average exercise, and it would help you keep better. Exercises like running, swimming, and running help to burn a considerable amount of energy. Also, taking a walk utilizes energy too.
Often, we advise that exercises are done at least 1 to 2 hours before bedtime. This way, your body would have rested and would now be in the position to sleep.
Hydration
Caffeine has diuretic properties. This means that it can drain you of water. If you drink a lot of coffee, you should drink a lot of water to accompany the coffee.
Dehydration plays a major role in sleeping as it disrupts the sleep plan of the body. It disrupts the sleeping plan by causing dry mouth, leg cramps, and snoring.
It might, however, interest you to note that your body naturally loses water, whether when sleeping or when awake, so the tip is to drink water. Drink as much water as possible, especially when taking coffee.
Food
We understand how appealing and irresistible late-night snacks are to the eyes and to the stomach, but it is not as appealing if it plays a major role in disrupting your sleep patterns. It is advisable that you stop eating between 2 to 3 hours before going to bed.
Melatonin
Melatonin are supplements taken to induce sleep. Melatonin is a natural body hormone that helps to maintain the circadian rhythm of the body in that the body is able to detect when to sleep and when to wake. People with the jet lag sleeping disorder are often the ones that take these supplements to help balance their sleep to waking duration.
Jet lag is a temporary sleep disorder that occurs when the body’s internal clock (the circadian rhythm) is out of sync with cues from a new time zone. People suffering from this disorder take melatonin to bring the body’s internal clock back in sync.
Sleep Schedule
Having a sleep schedule is human; sticking to it is divine. A lot of individuals have difficulties with keeping with sleep schedules, especially workaholics. It is very good to want to complete all tasks before going to bed, just as it is very tempting to want to sleep on weekends or days off, but changing your sleep schedule can confuse the body’s circadian rhythm, thereby affecting your sleep patterns.
Temperature
A cool bedroom with an appropriate temperature for sleeping is ideal for anyone dealing with insomnia. There is more to it than just that cozy bedroom feeling because low temperatures are linked with sleepiness, while warm temperatures are linked to alertness.
As bedtime draws near, your body temperature decreases, and when you sleep, it drops a few degrees more. Putting this into consideration is an effective and natural way to fight insomnia.
Light
Just as how low temperature induces sleep, light levels also help your body decide whether it is time to sleep or not. Low light levels tell your body that it is bedtime. Instead of turning on a bright light, try a lower bedside lamp.
Also, it is expedient that you should avoid blue light, which has a track record body reducing the production of sleep-inducing melatonin in your body.
Cell phones mostly emit this kind of light. Do not use your phone between 1 to 2 hours before your bedtime.
Relaxation
The sole function of the bedroom is for relaxation and sleeping. Try to establish in your mind the fact that your bedroom is a place to rewind and recharge. You may be tempted to finish up a task, project, or assignment from the comfort of your bed, but doing your work anywhere else apart from the bedroom helps to leave stress outside the bedroom.
Before your bedtime, you can do things that relax the mind. Reading a book helps to trigger sleep quickly because of the to and fro movement of the eyes on the pages of the book. Listening to music with good headphones also helps you to relax and fall asleep without stressing so much. The Voerou Wireless Headphones for Sleeping will allow you to enjoy your night by relaxing your mind while making way for sleep to take place.
In addition, taking your bath an hour before bedtime helps to calm your nerves and sets you in that sleepy mood. It is advised that you used essential oils like lavender, which have strong sleep-inducing effects. Our experts recommend the Dream Blend from Maple Holistics.
Some people have reported that coffee induces sleep. This, however, has not been confirmed. Coffee is known to contain a stimulant called caffeine. This stimulant hinders the production of sleep-inducing hormones in the brain. Instead, the body is fueled with energy to do more work and speeds up productivity. Hence, coffee hinders sleep until it is worn out of the body.
The function of caffeine in coffee sounds good and healthy. However, there are grave consequences for its misuse. The intake of coffee on an empty stomach, taking coffee when ill, on medication, or taking coffee later than usual during the day is harmful. This can cause:
A major disruption in sleep patterns;
Increase nervousness;
Anxiety;
Irritability;
Headaches;
A decrease in cognitive and motor skills.
Hence, the intake of coffee should be monitored and paid attention to so as to avoid risks of running into these problems.
Final thoughts
Taking coffee is good. Who can resist that distinctive aroma of a cup of coffee? It has a lot of health benefits ranging from an increase in the levels of productivity to the prevention of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. It is said that taking between 2 to 3 cups of coffee is within the normal range that is ideal for your body. However, anything exceeding that amount is considered a red flag.
However, if you find yourself battling with insomnia at the end of the day, then you need to check your amount of coffee intake as well as the time of coffee intake. Paying attention to these can go a long way in helping how to sleep after drinking coffee.
Caffeine is a substance found in coffee that stimulates the production of certain chemicals by blocking sleep-inducing chemicals in the brain, thereby increasing the adrenaline production in the body. Research shows that taking coffee has numerous health benefits for your body. This includes:
Hydration
Some people have reported that coffee induces sleep. This, however, has not been confirmed. Coffee is known to contain a stimulant called caffeine. This stimulant hinders the production of sleep-inducing hormones in the brain. Instead, the body is fueled with energy to do more work and speeds up productivity. Hence, coffee hinders sleep until it is worn out of the body.
