The odds are that a bad night’s sleep is an experience you’re familiar with. There’s also a good chance that you turn to your morning cup of coffee to give you a boost. However, your morning coffee could be messing with your sleep.
Turning to coffee to wake up is not a wrong approach. Caffeine is a valuable stimulant, and coffee consumption has been tied with many short and long-term benefits for the body. However, there might be some downsides that you should be aware of
How does coffee work?
After a hard day’s work, your body produces an organic compound named adenosine that helps your body feel sleepy. Caffeine blocks adenosine, which is great if you’re trying to stay awake but not so great when it comes to sleep.
It doesn’t happen immediately—your intestines absorb caffeine within the hour, and it reaches its maximum effects within two. After that, the substance has a half-life from two hours to over ten, so it’s possible to feel the effects of coffee well into the evening.
Coffee could affect your blood’s sugar levels
The Centre for Nutrition, Exercise & Metabolism of the University of Bath, located in the United Kingdom, determined that drinking a cup of black coffee first thing in the morning could affect your blood sugar levels throughout the day.
The study—published by the British Journal of Nutrition—investigated the link between sleep, coffee, and glucose and insulin levels in the blood. It turns out that a single bad night does not affect glucose or insulin levels, but drinking black coffee before eating can create insulin resistance, which means your blood’s glucose could increase by nearly 50% when you eat breakfast.
In short, a cup of black coffee can disrupt more than just your sleep—it can impact your sugar control.
How does your morning coffee effect your sleep?
High blood sugar, in the long term, has terrible consequences for your health. However, it can also have short-term implications since elevated blood sugar levels can induce insomnia, fatigue, thirst, and other sleep-disrupting events.
Of course, drinking your morning cup of coffee after breakfast, and not before, can protect your blood sugar levels—but it doesn’t guarantee your sleep. Remember that your body could still take near 10 hours to process the caffeine.
Your morning coffee could be in your system well into the evening, keeping your body active.
It’s not just your coffee, either—caffeine is hidden in other everyday foods, such as chocolate, soda, and even tea. Other stimulants, such as nicotine, can also keep you awake at night in the same manner caffeine does.
So—what to do?
The truth is, despite these facts, your body’s response to caffeine is quite individual. If you struggle with your sleep, your best bet is to experiment with your coffee consumption and try to see if you notice any improvement afterwards.
Only then will you be able to figure out whether your morning coffee is a miracle cure or if it might be more trouble than it’s worth.
What if it’s your mattress?
Of course, one of the biggest hindrances to a good night’s sleep is an old and lumpy mattress. If you’ve ruled out coffee as a disturbance to your sleep, take a look at the mattress you have, and ask yourself the following:
- Are you still tired when you wake up?
- Do you toss and and turn all night?
- Is your mattress sagging?
In many cases, a poor quality, old or worn mattress is an overlooked factor in insomnia. If you’ve been sinking into an old bed that’s lost its shape your body is not being supported and your unique sleeping posture isn’t being accommodated. If your mattress is too firm or too soft, you might experience back and joint pains. Sealy’s exclusive Posturepedic Technology™ mattresses are built strategically to help provide proper support for the entire body, comfort for a great night’s sleep and durability for peace of mind. Orthopedically correct mattress design fully supports the body while at the same time relieving pressure points, allowing the body to fully relax.
