We all know the importance of getting a good night’s sleep. Sadly, seven or six (sometimes even lesser) of sleep has become the norm in today’s fast-paced society. So how are we getting through the day?
One word – Caffeine.
Caffeinated drinks such as coffee and tea have become that little shot in the arm that we depend on to get us over the hump. Besides that, many studies claiming that caffeine provides health benefits. Some of the benefits include: increased memory consolidation, relieved post-workout muscle pain, helped stimulating hair growth and more.
Unfortunately, according to a recent study released by the American Academy of Sleep at Sleep 2016, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC, that cup of coffee or tea (or soft drinks or whatever form of caffeine you enjoy) will get you only so far.
Results found, after you sustain three nights of the less-than-optimal amount of five hours of sleep, caffeine has lost its performance-boosting power. Simply put, after only three nights of limited sleep, your coffee does nothing to your body, improving neither your performance or alertness.
The study followed 48 participants, by restricting their sleep to five hours per night for five days, 200 milligrams of caffeine (which is about a cup of coffee) twice a day. It was discovered that coffee “significantly improved” the participants’ performance on tasks, relative to the effects of taking a placebo, for the first two days of the study. However on the third day of sleep restriction, the two caffeine doses had no measurable effect.
In a nutshell, if you are not getting enough sleep, the benefits of one cup of coffee are about the same as multiple ones.
Related: Think You Know A Lot About Coffee?
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