Why drinking coffee doesn’t always help you wake up

The caffeine, the main active ingredient in coffee, has a well-founded reputation for being an energy stimulant. But caffeine it’s also a drug, Which means that It can affect each of us differently, depending on our consumption habits and our genes.

“In moderate quantities, coffee – a drink that contains caffeine – It stimulates the central nervous system, helps us reduce fatigue, increases alertness and concentration. Also antioxidant properties and protects our heart ”, explained to Infobae the nutrition graduate (MN 7722) Romina Pereiro.

“The paradox of caffeine is that, in the short term, it helps with attention and alertness. It helps with certain cognitive tasks and with energy levels ”, he assured in dialogue with The New York Times Mark Stein, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Washington, study the impact of caffeine on people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). “But the cumulative effect, or the long-term impact, has the opposite effect.”, warned.

Some of the paradoxical effects of caffeine are the result of its effects on what researchers call “sleep pressure”, that fuels the sleep we experience as the day progresses. As soon as we wake up, our body has a body clock that prompts us to go back to sleep later in the day.

Seth Blackshaw, a neuroscientist from the Johns Hopkins University who studies the dream, said that researchers are still learning how sleep pressure builds up in the body, but that throughout the day, our cells and tissues use and burn energy in the form of a molecule call triphosphate of adenosine O ATP. As this ATP is spent, because we think, exercise, run errands, or attend conference calls, our cells make a chemical called adenosine as a by-product. this adenosine it binds to receptors in the brain, which makes us more sleepy.

Chemically, the caffeine it seems quite similar to adenosine at the molecular level which occupies these binding sites, block adenosine from binding to these brain receptors. As a result, the caffeine works to temporarily suppress sleep pressure, making us feel more awake. During this time, adenosine continues to build up in the body.

“Once the effect of the caffeine wears off, you get a very high level of sleep pressure and you have to bring it back”, underline Blackshaw. In reality, the only way to relieve and restore a high level of sleep pressure is to sleep.

Besides, the more caffeine we drink, the more we develop our body’s tolerance to it. Our liver adapts by producing proteins that break down caffeine faster, and the adenosine receptors in our brains multiply, so they can remain sensitive to adenosine levels to regulate our sleep cycle.

“Last resort, continuous or increased consumption of caffeine has a negative impact on sleep, which will also make us more tired ”, affirmed Stein. And he added: “If a person is sleeping less and is stressed, and depends on caffeine to improve these factors, it is simply a perfect storm for a short term solution that will only make things worse in the long term.

As if that weren’t enough, caffeine can also cause blood sugar spikes or lead to dehydration, which can tire us more, according to Christina Pierpaoli Parker, clinical researcher studying sleep in the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Experts warn that a solution could be consume less coffee in a day. “Don’t drink it every day. Ideally, drinking coffee should be fun and useful, and really give us a boost when we need it ”, Underline Blackshaw.

While, if you feel like caffeine isn’t giving you more energy, experts recommend taking a nap, exercising, or sitting outside in natural light, which can help us recharge energy, naturally.

“Watch your sleep and make sure you sleep well. Adequate sleep and physical activity are the first-line interventions for attention problems and drowsiness. The caffeine it’s a complement Useful, but we must not become dependent on it ”, he concluded. Stein.

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