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Topics: Coffee, Sleep, Health, Food and Drink, Alcohol
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Coffee, Sleep, Health, Food and Drink, Alcohol
A doctor has revealed the best 'sleep hygiene' practices to get the best night sleep possible and coffee lovers should take note.
As I sat here drinking my fourth coffee of the day at nearly 3pm on a Wednesday, a doctor has revealed when you should stop consuming caffeine in a bid to prioritize the best sleep you can get.
The question is, am I too late past the caffeine cut-off point to get a good night's sleep tonight?
Well, a study looking at 2000-odd participants tracked what they were eating and drinking in the hours leading up to getting some shut eye.
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And the study found there's a set window of hours you should be stopping consuming caffeine within if you want to try and get the best sleep you possibly can.
That window? A magic seven hours before bedtime.
If you're not a coffee lover, it's not just you impacted, though. Another drink has been targeted too.
During an appearance on ITV's This Morning, Dr Nighat Arif explained you should also stop drinking alcohol around three to four hours before going to sleep.
"It's this whole idea of sleep hygiene. What you're trying to do is wind down, come off your screens," she advised. "Really think about sleep as a winding down exercise as you're getting there."
But why seven hours?
Dr Arif revealed caffeine takes on 'a similar shape molecule to adenosine'.
"Adenosine is this hormone we build up throughout the day which actually gets us ready for sleep because we live in a circadian rhythm.
"And so as this adenosine is building up, what caffeine does is so clever, it mimics that same molecule, gets into all those slots like a puzzle and so therefore your brain doesn't feel that it's sleepy, anymore.
"Hence why actually having a cut off at 2pm is a good idea."
It's not taken long for coffee drinkers to weigh in.
Clearly not one to hold back on the detail, one Facebook user wrote: "I must admit i cut down on quantity from around 2pm. Like most folk i drink a mug of tea or coffee when i wake up but then around 2pm i use a cup or else i"m up peeing through the night."
"I drink decaff tea and coffee..so no probs with sleep..why didn't she just say that.." Another rocket scientist said.
And a final simply resolved: "For the record, if youre drinking instant coffee, that AINT real coffee!"