Does drinking coffee before bed affect the quality of sleep
Release time: 2023-10-13
Everyone knows that sleep is important and seems to think about it all the time, a positive and surprising study has found that drinking coffee before bed does not affect the quality of sleep!
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and Harvard Medical School monitored 785 people for 5,164 days and nights to observe the effects of caffeine, alcohol and nicotine intake on sleep, reports The Independent.
The researchers, led by FAU's Dr. Christine Spadola, who published the study in the journal Sleep, compared individuals' intake of these substances to data from sleep diaries and wristwatch sensors worn by the participants, which recorded how long and efficiently they slept and how quickly they woke up.
They found that caffeine intake within four hours of bedtime was not significantly associated with sleep factors measured by wrist sensors.
Instead, nicotine was most associated with sleep disruption - especially among participants with insomnia - resulting in an average of 42.47 minutes of shorter sleep. Though not as drastic as nicotine, the researchers also found that drinking alcohol before bed reduced sleep efficiency.
The Independent notes that while these findings are ostensibly counterintuitive, they are consistent with previous research on the subject. In an interview with The Independent, sleep expert Dr. Neil Stanley said, "The idea that drinking coffee before bed keeps you awake at night is pure nonsense."
However, Dr. Stanley also pointed out that results can vary depending on an individual's sensitivity to caffeine, but for those who are less sensitive, caffeine intake before bed should not be a problem.
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