When to stop drinking caffeine to get a good night's sleep







(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How do we know when it's time to stop drinking coffee during the day so we can still get a good night's sleep?

Rob van Dam: That sounds like a simple question, but unfortunately there's not one answer to it. And that's because different people react very differently to caffeine.

If you're getting tremors, feeling suddenly nervous, or your heart rate is changing, it could well be that you're drinking too much caffeine. And similarly, it can interfere with a good night's sleep.

You may want to say, "Well, let's try to cut down caffeine and not drink it after a certain time in the afternoon and see if that improves my sleeping habits." So it's really something every individual has to experiment with for themselves — how much caffeine they drink and when they drink it.


What factors affect how we react to caffeine?

Van Dam: Your lifestyle makes a difference. For example, people who smoke metabolise caffeine in the liver about twice as fast. If you're a smoker, likely you can drink caffeine up to a later time and still be OK in terms of sleeping.



How much caffeine is too much?


Another recommendation is to keep it to no more than 200 milligrams per sitting. Even though you may drink four cups a day, you don't want to drink four cups in one go — that will be too much for the body to metabolise, for most people at least.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

CNN: Is caffeine for everyone?

Van Dam: Caffeine does truly pick you up a little bit and make you even more alert. So particularly for people with routine tasks, it can be beneficial. For example, if you must drive a lot at nighttime, or if you're in the military and you're on duty to monitor, but nothing is really happening for hours on end.


And there's no reason to drink it if you don't want to. Because even if you like the taste of coffee, you can always drink decaffeinated coffee, and there's nothing wrong with that either.

Is caffeine safe?


So, if you're enjoying coffee, you're enjoying caffeine, and you can consume it in moderation and you don't have any detrimental effects — you don't really have to worry too much about the health effects of coffee or caffeine.

11 foods that guarantee healthy bowel movements
