Caffeine and Sleep Problems

Unfortunately, caffeine can put your brain on high alert, keeping you awake long after you want to go to sleep. It’s no myth that caffeine is linked to chronic insomnia. If you’re like most people, drinking a strong cup of coffee an hour before going to bed will disturb your sleep. In one Japanese study, subjects who consumed 150 milligrams of caffeine took an average 126 minutes to get to sleep, com­pared with 29 minutes for those who did not take caffeine. The caffeine-takers slept a total of about four-and-a-half hours; the non-caffeine drinkers, seven-and-a-half hours. Electrical recordings of the brain revealed that caffeine caused disruptions in normal sleep patterns and quality of sleep. Caffeine users tend to toss and turn more and wake up more during the night.

Since sleep deprivation is shown to actually damage brain cells, caffeine late in the day is not a good idea.

Best advice: Don’t drink caffeine after late afternoon if you want a good night’s sleep.

Note: It is also true that some people can drink caffeine and never have a sleep problem. Their brains are not as responsive to caffeine as other brains.

BRAIN ALERT: If you are nursing an infant, it’s a good idea not to consume caffeine; it ends up in the milk and ultimately in the infant’s brain, where it has the same effect as on yours: Mainly, it could keep the baby awake and alert.