4 Reasons Caffeine Makes Your Sleep Worse

It's common knowledge that caffeine negatively impacts sleep. Many people are cautious and won't drink another cup of coffee before bed. Yet, plenty of people believe that caffeine has no negative effect on their sleep at all.

Yet it's a fact: caffeine makes sleep worse. Not only does it make it harder to fall asleep if you consume it in the evening, but it can also reduce the quality of your sleep.

Caffeine is one of the most commonly used stimulants in the world. Unfortunately, its stimulating effects last a long time, making it likely to affect your sleep. Read below to learn all about the four reasons why caffeine makes your sleep worse.

Caffeine makes it difficult to fall asleep. During the day, your brain produces adenosine. Levels build up as the day progresses, and it makes you drowsy in the evening.

When you drink coffee, the caffeine is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. Once it reaches the brain, it blocks the adenosine receptors there.

So, instead of feeling sleepy, you'll still feel active and alert late at night. This will likely make it harder to fall asleep. Lying awake for extended periods of time will leave you feeling tired the next day.

That fatigue can be a reason to start drinking more coffee again. A vicious cycle begins!

Research shows that caffeine shortens the time you spend in deep sleep, the NREM phase [1] . It is during this phase that the body is busy repairing itself and gaining new energy. This is important for waking up refreshed the next morning.

Too much caffeine can cause you to sleep poorly and wake up feeling drowsy and tired.

Caffeine use can cause insomnia and worsen existing sleep problems [3] . Using caffeine to stay awake at night can also lead to insomnia and a worsening of sleep quality, as well as developing anxiety.

If you want to cut back on caffeine or even stop using it altogether, you may find that your body has become accustomed to this stimulant. In short: caffeine is addictive.

Withdrawal symptoms can manifest as difficulty concentrating, headaches, and fatigue. You'll also experience strong caffeine cravings. These symptoms, in turn, can lead to poor sleep.

If you want to reduce the impact of caffeine on your sleep, you can do so in two ways. First, you could reduce the amount of caffeine you consume per day. That means, for example, instead of 6 cups a day, reduce it to 2 or 3.

In addition, how long the effect of caffeine remains noticeable is also important. One study looked at the effect of caffeine when it was taken immediately before bedtime or 3 or 6 hours before bedtime [3] .

When caffeine was consumed between 0 and 3 hours before bedtime, participants reported sleep problems. But even six hours before bedtime, the caffeine still had an effect, and participants slept an average of one hour less.

To ensure that caffeine does not affect your sleep, it is advisable to avoid caffeinated beverages after 2 p.m.

Looking for tips on how to drink less caffeine? Read more in this blog post.