A question to pose…is there a time when we should stop drinking caffeine throughout our day in order to allow ourselves to have the best quality sleep? The answer might surprise (and disappoint) many of us! If you rely on caffeine throughout your day I would recommend you stop reading now…
In an article published in this month’s issue of Sleep Medicine Review 24 studies were systematically reviewed looking at the effects of caffeine on adults aged 18 – 65. Caffeine doses and sleep quality was then measured by researches to determine if there was an ideal caffeine dose & time frame to consume in order to allow yourself to have the best quality sleep every night…
The overall results were generalized to show that caffeine reduced your total sleep time by roughly 45 minutes per night. It was also determined the time to fall asleep was increased by an average of 10 minutes and conversely the time to reach full wakefulness each morning increased an additional 10 minutes as well…
Diving deeper into the relationship between caffeine dosage and time of day, it was found for individuals consuming >200 mg of caffeine daily the ideal time to consume your caffeine was roughly 13 hours before your anticipated bedtime. For those consuming a reduced amount of caffeine per day (~100 mg) it was determined the ideal time was 9 hours prior to your expected bedtime.
Bottom line…if your daily routine consists of multiple cups of coffee intermixed with an energy drink or two, it’s best to consume those early in your day to ensure you bedtime routine is uninterrupted.
Want to learn more about this? Our team would be glad to share more about this topic.
Source: Gardiner C, Weakley J, Burke LM, et al. The effect of caffeine on subsequent sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis [published online ahead of print, 2023 Feb 6]. Sleep Med Rev. 2023;69:101764. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2023.101764
