Health
The Study Examines Caffeine, Daylight Effect on Circadian Rhythm
In this photo taken Wednesday, March 4, 2015 John Rogers displays freshly roasted coffee at the Rogers Family Company in Lincoln, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Silvia Hernandez, PIONEER NEWS
(PioneerNews.com) – It is common knowledge that coffee has stimulant properties. And obviously, the stimulant properties of coffee come greatly from its caffeine content. This is why many people like to drink it in the morning as part of the wake-up ritual and perhaps later in the day as a quick and simple pick-me-up.
But some people have argued that they like to drink coffee at night because it helps them sleep; and a new study says that this cannot be accurate. The study looks at how caffeine disrupts the body’s natural circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythm, of course, is the natural, internal clock that regulates when we sleep and wake up (and other things like metabolism, telling us when to eat and when to be active, etc).
The study says that coffee disrupts the circadian rhythm of the body: for example, the amount of caffeine found in a double espresso can shift the natural anatomical clock by about 40 minutes, on average.
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