In a society of night owls and perfectionists, coffee rules all. Whether it’s pulling an all-nighter, having insomnia, or simply having a busy day ahead of us, there’s always something that makes us call for a shot of espresso. Which leads to the conclusion that coffee and sleep are mutually exclusive, thus creating some serious caffeine addictions.
But what if I told you that they didn’t have to be? What if I told you that sleep and coffee could work together to give you the best wake up call?
Let me introduce to you Nappuccino’s, aka Coffee Naps.
It’s exactly what it sounds like. Having a Nappuccino is as easy as drinking a cup of coffee then taking a 20-minute nap right afterwards.
It’s the ultimate tool in a student’s belt!
What’s the Science?
Coffee and sleep together sound counterintuitive but let’s look at them separately.
Caffeine, the main stimulant in coffee, is a drug we’re all way too familiar with. However, we typically don’t realize why it works the way it does. Caffeine is chemically similar to adenosine, the chemical in our brains that make us tired. So when we introduce caffeine into our system the caffeine binds to adenosine receptors, thus blocking adenosine from binding to our receptors. If adenosine doesn’t bind to these receptor sites, then we don’t become tired! [1]
Sleep does the same thing, however it does it more naturally. When our bodies need sleep, the brain is flooded with adenosine to makes us tred enough to go to sleep. And when we do sleep, the adenosine levels naturally fall, therefore making us feel more rested. [2]
As we can see sleep and caffeine do the same thing, so what happens when we put them together?
It takes us approximately 20 minutes to metabolize coffee and fully register the caffeine into our system. So when we use those 20 minutes for a nap, we open up more adenosine receptors in our brain, thus making more room for the caffeine to take up. The result is that we’re much more awake for a much larger period of time. [3]
How To?
It’s simple, really. Just drink a cup or two of your favorite type of coffee. Then set an alarm for 20 minutes, find a cozy corner, and allow yourself to drift off.
But it’s important to remember not to sleep for more than 20 minutes or else it’ll be harder to wake up as you go deeper into a sleep cycle.
But what if you can’t easily fall asleep like that? Good news is that you don’t need to fall into deep sleep in order for Coffee Naps to work! Simply closing your eyes and dozing off a little bit is enough.
Trust me, this works. I’ve indulged in my fair share of Nappuccinos especially at debate tournaments where I had to run around in heels and skirt suits for 16 hrs a day everyday on the weekend.
So go forth and conquer those all-nighters with this little life hack up your sleeves.
Sources:
[1] https://www.cnet.com/news/this-is-your-brain-on-caffeine/
[2] http://www.howsleepworks.com/how_homeostasis.html
[3] https://blog.bulletproof.com/coffee-naps-bulletproof-power-nap/