There’s only one thing worse than not being able to sleep. And that’s FINALLY falling asleep like 20 minutes before your alarm is gonna go off. WHYYYY MEEEEEEE!?!?!
So if you’ve ever found yourself cursing the Lord Of Dreamland for refusing you entry, it’s very possible that caffeine has more of an effect on you than you think.
Sure you only had one delicious cup of wonderful coffee, or 2 cans of soda at the crack of dawn. But that could be your problem. Here’s why…
There is a term used in science to describe how fast substances break down in your body. It’s called a half-life. What that means is how long it takes for half of a substance to be broken down in your body. The half life of caffeine is about 6 hours, which REALLY means that it will be another 6 hours before all of the caffeine has left your system.
So, if you have a nice big cup of luscious liquid black velvet at 9am, at 3pm you still have half of that caffeine in your system. At 9pm, a quarter of that caffeine is STILL in your body; at midnight, an eighth.
Same thing goes for soda. If you have 2 cans of cola at lunch, at midnight you have a half a cola’s worth of caffeine partying it’s way through your blood stream and stimulating your brain.
That may not seem like a lot, but if you’re super sensitive to caffeine, it could be enough to keep you lit just enough to destroy your chances of falling asleep. Boohoo…….
Keep in mind, 6 hours is the average. If you happen to process caffeine more slowly, you could have a LOT more in your system than you think when it’s time for bed. In fact, it’s possible that if you consume enough caffeine, you could ALWAYS have some level of caffeine in your body. That is how people wind up completely exhausted. Kind of like this little guy.
Caffeine essentially stimulates your nervous system and activates your fight-or-flight response. That’s putting it simply.
Once your fight or flight response has been overactive for a while, the mechanisms in your body that help you to calm down get worn out. (I’m referring to your parasympathetic nervous system.)
Quitting coffee or soda can be tough. And we can help with that. Coffee Quitter and Gymnema are good solutions for quitting coffee and soda respectively. But it’s also important to repair and reverse the effects that excessive caffeine may have had on your body.
A solution can be found in doing things that help you to calm down: meditation, exercise, and a good clean diet are extremely effective.
You can also drink teas that tone your exhausted nervous system so your body can shut that stress response down and help you be in a more relaxed state.
One great example is Daily Calm tea. It's made with herbs that help your body relax. And the more you drink it the better.
Will it make you fall asleep in the middle of the day? No. It doesn’t work that way.
The key is to help your body relearn how to calm itself down. So the more you drink Daily Calm over time, the better it is going to help your body relax when it needs to most.
We'd love to hear your experiences!
Thanks and sweet dreams,
Nick