Course Content
Sleep Well Coach Training
About Lesson

I think most of us are familiar with caffeine interfering with sleep. Caffeine can affect how sleepy we feel, and if we don’t feel sleep at our ‘normal’ bedtime (due to caffeine) then we push bedtime to a later time. This results in less sleep if you still need to get up at the same time in the morning.

How Caffeine Affects the Body

Caffeine can reduce the amount of deep slow wave sleep, resulting in a less nourishing sleep (1). 

Caffeine affects adenosine, the sleep promoting chemical, by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain. This means the adenosine we produce throughout the day isn’t signalling to the brain that it’s sleepy and consequently we feel more alert (2). The body does adapt, so if you drink more caffeine, more adenosine is produced to compensate and then more caffeine is needed to feel alert… a cycle of caffeine dependance is created. Which if you try and break by quitting caffeine, the extra adenosine causes feelings of withdrawal such as headaches and sleepiness.

The effects of caffeine begin about 30 minutes after consuming it and can last up to 5 hours (3).

What to Ask Your Client

  • How much coffee (the drink with the most bio-available caffeine), tea, caffeinated sodas and/or any medication containing caffeine are you consuming?
  • What time in the day is your last caffeinated drink? 
  • Do you think caffeine could be interfering with your sleep?
  • Are you willing to reduce your consumption and/or have your last caffeine drink earlier in the day?

References

  1. Clark, I., & Landolt, H. P. (2017). Coffee, caffeine, and sleep: A systematic review of epidemiological studies and randomized controlled trials. Sleep medicine reviews, 31, 70–78.
  1. Reichert, C. F., Deboer, T., & Landolt, H.-P. (2022). Adenosine, caffeine, and sleep–wake regulation: state of the science and perspectives. Journal of Sleep Research, 31( 4), e13597. 
  2. Evans J, Richards JR, Battisti AS. Caffeine. [Updated 2022 Nov 28]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan