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Coffee does not keep you awake

 If you love coffee then don't drink it just for the caffeine rush. It appears that the heightened sense awareness if a fallacy or, at least, not nearly as profound as some people would like to suggest. Recent research has suggested that coffee does not keep people awake to any significant degree.

 

Interestingly, even taking extra long lie-ins did not confer any benefit on the individual. In fact further work has strongly suggested that a “power nap” is better to shed the tiredness than a hit of caffeine or an extra long sleep.

 

A simple 20 minute sleep gives greater benefit than a cup of coffee in refreshing the body but, of course, doesn't taste as good. Interestingly, both method appear to be better than simply sleeping in.

The study looked at participants that either slept in for an additional 90 minutes, had a 20 minute nap in the afternoon or a cup of coffee after lunch. Alertness was tested and the conclusion was that the nap was the best of the three and that improvements in alertness using this method was immediate and sustained.

Drinking coffee appeared better than doing nothing whereas the long sleep simply showed no effect whatsoever.

 

One of the stumbling blocks appears to be that sleeping is anti-social whereas drinking coffee is socially acceptable and even promoted. This can discourage people from taking a nap especially when with others.

 

But, why not have the best of both worlds and have a communal nap followed by a refreshing cup of coffee?

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