Using caffeine to best advantage

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Small amounts of caffeine taken throughout the day can boost mental performance without impairing sleep at night-time.

The way many people use caffeine is to have coffee or tea in the morning and then start to abstain from mid-afternoon for fear it will interfere with sleep. In fact, according to researchers at Rush University Medical Center, you can probably get more out of caffeine if you take small, regular doses.

We have two different sleep-wake cycles. There is the circadian rhythm, which works on a roughly 24 hour clock and is driven by the hormone melatonin. Then there is the homeostatic rhythm which increases the desire for sleep the longer we are awake. Caffeine works on the second system, which increases the desire for sleep during the afternoon and evening.

The researchers, thinking of those who need to stay awake because of shift work or because they have a deadline to meet, looked at a group of 16 men for 29 days.

They worked in sleep labs devoid of time cues and kept them to a longer-than-average day. Every hour they took either a caffeine pill equivalent to a two ounce coffee or placebo. Those on the caffeine showed superior cognitive performance and were less likely to experience 'microsleeps'. So if you need to stay alert, a regular coffee or tea taken at regular intervals should help you out.

Source:
Sleep May 2004

Ironically enough, one of the medications I take for migraines called Fiorinal contains caffeine.