Sleep expert reveals exact time you should drink coffee

24 February 2024 , 12:56

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Caffeine can make it difficult to sleep at night (Image: Getty Images)

A sleep expert has revealed the exact time you should drink coffee and says getting it wrong could spell trouble.

Dr Deborah Lee, Get Laid Beds' resident Sleep Expert said the optimum time for a morning caffeine is at 10am or 45 minutes after your morning wake-up. This, she says is because a cortisol hormone "follows a rhythm specific to your own sleeping cycle" which peaks after waking up and reduces throughout the day. And if you have a coffee earlier you can eventually become 'immune' to it.

Caffeine blocks receptors in your brain which can also make it difficult to sleep at night if it is drank too late in the day. The perfect time for a caffeine uplift is therefore 10 am according to Dr Lee. She said: "If you're someone that wakes up at around 7am, for example, leaving your first coffee until around 10am to 12pm will be when your body, and mind, will appreciate it the most and you'll get the most benefits from the caffeine."

Coffee can have an impact on our natural body rhythms (Getty Images)

After waking up wake up cortisol, a stress hormone, peaks which brings alertness and focus and regulates the metabolism and immune system. But raised levels of coritisol can affect the immune system having a negative effect.You should also stop drinking coffee six hours before bedtime to be sure of getting a better sleep.

Dr Lee said this varies for different people depending on their caffeine tolerance. She added: "To avoid messing up your sleeping pattern, avoid any caffeine after 3pm including coffee, fizzy drinks, energy drinks and even non-caffeinated tea. Try switching to herbal teas if you need a hot drink to stay warm, or decaf to trick yourself into thinking you're getting your caffeine fix. Your sleep schedule will thank you!"

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The Mirror reported how drinking coffee before bed sets your body clock back by an hour, experts have found. A study suggested caffeine goes much further than simply making it harder to sleep.

Scientists discovered drinking the equivalent of a double espresso three hours before going to bed can turn your body clock back by an hour.

Caffeine resets the clock by delaying a rise in the level of melatonin, the body's chief sleep hormone. This hormone tells your body the natural time to go to sleep and wake up. Joint lead researcher Dr John O'Neill, of the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in London, said: "The effect of caffeine on sleep and wakefulness has been long established, but its impact on the underlying body clock has remained unknown."

He said the discovery may have "important implications for people with sleep disorders, where their normal 24 hour body clock doesn't work properly, or even help with getting over jet lag.

Graeme Murray