STOP DRINKING COFFEE 6 HOURS BEFORE BEDTIME: LATEST RESEARCH
Bad news for caffeine addicts: That midday coffee pick-me-up might increase your odds for a sleepless night, new research shows.
The small study, which was done with caffeine pills equivalent to two or three cups of coffee, found that taking in caffeine even as long as six hours before bedtime significantly harmed sleep.
"Drinking a big cup of coffee on the way home from work can lead to negative effects on sleep just as if someone were to consume caffeine closer to bedtime," lead author Christopher Drake said in a news release from the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, which published the study NOV. 15th 2013.
"People tend to be less likely to detect the disruptive effects of caffeine on sleep when taken in the afternoon," said Drake, an investigator at the Henry Ford Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit.
The new study involved 12 healthy people who were normal sleepers and who were all told to continue their normal sleep schedules. Each participant, however, was given three pills per day for four days. Pills were taken at three intervals during the day: six hours before bedtime, three hours before bedtime and immediately before bedtime.
One of the three pills contained 400 milligrams of caffeine (equivalent to two or three cups of coffee) while the other two were caffeine-free placebos. On one of the four days, all three pills were a placebo.
The researchers said the participants' sleep was disrupted no matter when they took the caffeine pill. Even when they took the caffeine pill six hours before bedtime, they lost more than one hour of sleep during the night.
Drake's team said this is the first study to track the effects of a specific dose of caffeine taken at different times before bed. They said people should try to avoid caffeine after 5 p.m. if they want to get a good night's sleep.
Two experts said they weren't surprised by the findings.
"Most people have had the experience of insomnia after drinking coffee in the evening,"
said Dr. Len Horovitz, an internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "This study shows that caffeine ingestion even late in the afternoon and in the evening definitely has a negative impact on sleep quality and quantity."
And Dr. Steven Feinsilver, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, said "many of us are unaware of the amount [of caffeine] we consume routinely. Caffeine has an effect on both getting to sleep and staying asleep, and the effects may last up to 12 hours."
"One of the first things any poor sleeper should do is limit caffeine, particularly after noon or least eight hours before bedtime," Feinsilver said.
What about that morning brew to clear out the cobwebs? Horovitz said that's probably still fine. "Morning coffee drinking does not appear to affect sleep, and should probably be the limit on caffeine intake," he said. more
Bad news for caffeine addicts: That midday coffee pick-me-up might increase your odds for a sleepless night, new research shows.
The small study, which was done with caffeine pills equivalent to two or three cups of coffee, found that taking in caffeine even as long as six hours before bedtime significantly harmed sleep.
"Drinking a big cup of coffee on the way home from work can lead to negative effects on sleep just as if someone were to consume caffeine closer to bedtime," lead author Christopher Drake said in a news release from the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, which published the study NOV. 15th 2013.
"People tend to be less likely to detect the disruptive effects of caffeine on sleep when taken in the afternoon," said Drake, an investigator at the Henry Ford Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit.
The new study involved 12 healthy people who were normal sleepers and who were all told to continue their normal sleep schedules. Each participant, however, was given three pills per day for four days. Pills were taken at three intervals during the day: six hours before bedtime, three hours before bedtime and immediately before bedtime.
One of the three pills contained 400 milligrams of caffeine (equivalent to two or three cups of coffee) while the other two were caffeine-free placebos. On one of the four days, all three pills were a placebo.
The researchers said the participants' sleep was disrupted no matter when they took the caffeine pill. Even when they took the caffeine pill six hours before bedtime, they lost more than one hour of sleep during the night.
Drake's team said this is the first study to track the effects of a specific dose of caffeine taken at different times before bed. They said people should try to avoid caffeine after 5 p.m. if they want to get a good night's sleep.
Two experts said they weren't surprised by the findings.
"Most people have had the experience of insomnia after drinking coffee in the evening,"
said Dr. Len Horovitz, an internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "This study shows that caffeine ingestion even late in the afternoon and in the evening definitely has a negative impact on sleep quality and quantity."
And Dr. Steven Feinsilver, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, said "many of us are unaware of the amount [of caffeine] we consume routinely. Caffeine has an effect on both getting to sleep and staying asleep, and the effects may last up to 12 hours."
"One of the first things any poor sleeper should do is limit caffeine, particularly after noon or least eight hours before bedtime," Feinsilver said.
What about that morning brew to clear out the cobwebs? Horovitz said that's probably still fine. "Morning coffee drinking does not appear to affect sleep, and should probably be the limit on caffeine intake," he said. more
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Thanks, Sir. I highly value your contribution and have great regard. I would prefer to be called Ramesh only. Regards. more
Nov 19
Mr. Subha Rao, I entirely agree with you. The whole US is now Ga Ga over yoga and Meditation, Which is centuries old with us in India. U.S. has quite a Majority of Indian Doctors, who are now U.S. Citizens of Indian Origins who have contributed a great deal to the Medical World. The problem is that for all this Research, you need funds. U.S. is among the Richest Nations to provide this sort of funds to do research on Coffee Drinkers. You and I know what They have proved by Research. The problem with our Country is that we are unable to provide the Basic Medical aid to over Billion people with Meagre resources and funds. Regards more
Nov 19
Dear Dr. Raja Chandra: Thanks very much for the information sharing, based on new scientific researches. May I take pride in being an Indian and the Indian systems that our SUPER INTELLIGENT elders spoke and taught us. I am talking of this as early as 1970s when my grand parents and other elders used to tell us that drinking coffee in the evenings certainly disrupts sleep. We were in fact given cups of coffee during the night before sleep time, when we had to prepare for exams and study till late night. This science today is nearly 40years old - only difference being this comes from educated people and that was from UNEDUCATED INDIANS. I am not trying to blame you or raise any fingers sir, but we as Indians without exception, have tendency to accept what DEVELOPED WORLD or EUROPE tells us. As example same GITA, RAMAYAN & MAHABHARAT when cited with examples and satellite pictures by EUROPEANS gets IPR, gets huge publicity and when we recite that our rishis and saints went live into other worlds, we are all laughed at saying cynics and HINDU FUNAMENTALISTS. Similarly when YOGA is taught by a sanyasi or sadhu, that is bad and not good for health, however same Yoga coming back from US DOCTORS has whole world into it!!!! WE POOR INDIANS. Anyway I profoundly than you sir for sharing so much of knowledge. Please also accept my apologies and allow me to be humble. I have at no point any desire or ambition to ridicule or annihilate any of the writings sir. SUBBA RAO VENKATA PALAPARTI. MAYURDHWAJ CGHS, 60 I P EXTENSION, PATPARGANJ. more
Nov 19
