Coffee has become a staple drink most busy bodies reach out for at the start of every day. The stimulating effect of caffeine has been utilized by many to perk up and energize the mind and body to prepare for a hectic day ahead.
Studies have backed-up the boosting effect of coffee if taken twice daily. However, a research has established findings that coffee actually loses its effectiveness in boosting one's performance if the coffee drinker has had three straight nights of interrupted sleep.
According to a report in tv3ie, experts from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington has found that whenever interrupted sleep occurs, the tendency of coffee drinkers to compensate the lack of energy caused by sleepless nights is to go and immediately grab a caffeine jolt the next morning.
48 healthy subjects were put to the test in the said research. The subjects were made to experience "restricted sleep" where they were deprived of 5 hours of sleep per night. The test subjects were also grouped into to two divisions. The first group was made to take in 200mg of caffeine twice in a day while the other group was made to consume a placebo or a coffee beverage minus the caffeine. Four types of test were then administered to the subjects: Maintenance of Wakefulness Test, Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), A Profile Mood and the Stanford Sleepiness Scale.
According to Sleep Education ,The Maintenance of Wakefulness Test is administered to help measure alertness during the day and the capacity to stay awake for an allotted period of time. The ability of the body to function and achieve alertness during periods of inactivity is indicated in this test. The Psychomotor Vigilance Task according to ASTA is a visual test that measures the behavioral alertness of a person through the swiftness of the reaction to a given stimuli. The Stanford Sleepiness Scale on the other hand according to Sleep Rate , is a scale that one can refer to in order to measure levels of sleepiness and alertness.
Test results were then published in Journal Sleep, and established the conclusion that the stimulating effect of caffeine diminishes after the subjects experienced three straight nights of the so called " restricted sleep".
Lead author of the study Dr. Tracy Jill Doty notes that "We were particularly surprised that the performance advantage conferred by two daily 200mg doses of caffeine was lost after three nights of sleep restriction."
Dr. Doty also added, "These results are important, because caffeine is a stimulant widely used to counteract performance decline following periods of restricted sleep. The data from this study suggests that the same effective daily dose of caffeine is not sufficient to prevent performance decline over multiple days of restricted sleep." Caffeine is not only consumed to ward off sleepiness..
As per AARP ,The benefits of Coffee to the body has long been researched and one study indicates that Caffeine does help prevent certain illnesses including the Big C- cancer and even strokes. According to Walter Willett, M.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, as told in the National Institutes of Health's newsletter, "Coffee is an amazingly potent collection of biologically active compounds"
Every coffee lover knows that there is more to coffee than just its enticing rich aroma and the impeccable spike of its taste that makes us keep coming back for more. Coffee being a mild stimulant and it being rich in antioxidants, has been proven to be beneficial to the health as well as it being effective in enhancing one's ability to perform tasks efficiently. So in order to better enjoy the benefits of the zing of caffeine, one must get enough rest and the right amount of sleep daily.
Has drinking coffee made you perform your tasks better daily? Do comment in the section below and tell us more about your amazing coffee experience.
