Sleep is essential for helping the body repair itself, and lack of it can result in several unwanted effects. The average adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night, but many people struggle to get that much. Sleep is when the body repairs itself, so a lack of sleep can enormously impact your health.
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A good night's sleep is key to achieving your personal and professional goals, as it helps improve your focus and concentration, allowing you to learn faster. It also reduces stress and anxiety, enabling you to maintain a positive mood and build better relationships. You've probably heard that caffeine is a stimulant. This means it can increase alertness, alleviate fatigue, and enhance concentration and focus.
Caffeine can affect your quality of sleep and how long it takes you to fall asleep. But how much caffeine is too much? And how long does it take for caffeine to leave your body? Unlike other animals, humans sleep in REM cycles (rapid eye movement) and non-REM sleep.
These cycles alternate throughout the night — during REM sleep, you experience more vivid dreams, while the non-REM stages are characterized by physical repair and restoration of the body.
Caffeine works by blocking the effects of a brain chemical called adenosine. This slows down nerve cell activity in parts of your brain that control your sleep cycles, making you feel more alert.
Caffeine is absorbed quickly into your blood and reaches peak levels within about an hour of drinking it. It causes sleep problems even when consumed in the afternoon or evening.
The amount of time caffeine stays in the body varies depending on several factors, including:
Caffeine can disrupt sleep up to six hours after consuming it. It can also reduce the amount of REM sleep you get at night. This is the deepest stage of sleep — the one where you dream. Finally, caffeine can affect your circadian rhythm or your body's internal clock, regulating when you fall asleep and wake up each day.
A cup of black or oolong tea contains around 30-60 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, while a cup of green tea contains about 24-45 mg. An 8-ounce cup of brewed coffee contains 80-135 mg.
With all of the sleep-depriving stressors in our modern lives, it's not surprising that about one in three of us suffer from at least mild insomnia. And who among us hasn't been tempted by a pill to help us fall asleep?
Fortunately, over-the-counter sleep aids are rarely necessary. And despite their names, many don't contain any sleeping pills. Instead, they may include antihistamines and other drugs that can make you drowsy. They tend to be most effective for people with mild insomnia or those who need help falling asleep occasionally.
Before you consider taking a sleep aid, though, give these tips a try:
Studies have shown that caffeine can temporarily improve mood, reaction time, memory, and general mental function. Generally speaking, it's not difficult to understand how drinking coffee could help you perform better at work (or school).
However, while there are some well-documented benefits of caffeine consumption, some hidden costs and risks are associated with drinking too much coffee, mainly if you're drinking it late in the day or right before bedtime.