Coffee in the afternoon interferes with normal sleep

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Bad news for fans of coffee: scientists argue that a cup of this drink, drunk six hours earlier and before sleep, can break it.

Fresh, hot coffee in the evening is a sure recipe for a sleepless night. A small study in which volunteers were given caffeine tablets equivalent to two to three cups of coffee found that their sleep was severely disrupted.

A study conducted at the Center for the Study of Sleep Disorders. Henry Ford in Detroit, was published in the scientific journal Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

“Drinking a large cup of coffee on the way home from work may interfere with normal sleep, as did taking caffeine pills in our experiment,” says Christopher Drake, who led the study.

The experiment involved 12 healthy volunteers who did not experience any sleep problems. They were asked not to change anything in their daily routine, to go to bed and get up at the usual time. However, over the course of four days, each of the study participants received three tablets: one six hours before bedtime, another three hours before bed, and a third just before bedtime. One of these pills contained about 400 milligrams of caffeine (equivalent to about two to three cups of coffee), and the other two were placebos. On one of the four days, all three pills were placebo.

Scientists have found that the sleep of participants in the experiment was disturbed regardless of when they took the caffeine pill: six, three hours before sleep or just before bedtime. Anyway, they lost an hour or more from a normal night's sleep due to difficulty falling asleep.

Dr. Drake says that this is the first study to trace the effect of a certain dose of caffeine taken at different times before bedtime.

Doctors advise not to use caffeine in any form after 17.00, if you want to sleep in the coming night.

Dr. Stephen Feinsilver, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, agrees with his Detroit colleagues. “Many of us don't think about the amount of caffeine we consume day to day. In reality, it negatively affects both falling asleep and the quality of sleep itself, and the effect of drinking a cup of coffee can last up to 12 hours,” Feinsilver added. He believes that you should stop drinking caffeinated drinks at least 8 hours before bed.

Doctors agree that the beloved morning cup of coffee should not harm night's sleep. However, overindulging in an invigorating drink after lunch is not the best idea.