Caffeine is the most widely used substance in the world, with 80-90 percent of adults regularly consuming it. While caffeine sure makes you feel good and provides a kick of energy, regular caffeine use can have negative side effects too. If you’re a regular caffeine user that ever struggles with anxiety, trouble falling asleep/staying asleep, waking up tired, or lacking consistent energy throughout the day - then caffeine may be having some negative effects on your health. 

I wrongfully assumed I wasn’t negatively impacted by caffeine until a few years ago when I decided to go ‘cold turkey’ with no caffeine for 6 weeks. It wasn’t until then that I realized how much it was impacting my sleep and energy in a negative way. This was confirmed for me when I monitored my sleep with a sleep tracker, finding that the actual quality of my sleep was reduced when consuming caffeine (even if it was 10+ hours before bed). 

Since learning that about my body, I now choose not to consume caffeine regularly as it makes that big of a difference for my energy and sleep. While this may be for several reasons, there is one surprising statistic I learned that is likely responsible for why I felt this way, and something you need to know about caffeine if you’re a regular caffeine user:

1: Caffeine Has A Half Life Of 5-6 Hours

This basically means that if you drink 200mg of caffeine, then 100mg of caffeine is still in your system 5-6 hours later. Which also means that the quarter life of caffeine is 10-12 hours. So for that same 200mg of caffeine, you will still have 50mg in your system 10-12 hours after consuming it. So if you drink that cup of Starbucks coffee at noon (which very well has more than 200mg), that means there’s a good chance that 25% of it is still in your system at midnight that night.

“But I can drink a cup of coffee after dinner and still fall asleep…”

An important thing to note, as this is the most common counterargument in response to this statistic, is that falling asleep (or even staying asleep) easily does not mean that the quality of your sleep is not affected. Even caffeine consumption 6 hours before bed can reduce the actual tracked sleep quality by one hour over the course of the night. It’s been found that sleep quality matters more than simply how many hours of sleep you’re getting. So if caffeine is limiting your body’s ability to reach a deep sleep, then you will notice these effects on your mood, energy, and overall health over time. And if you’re sleep quality isn’t is good, the cycle continues as you have more of an urge to reach for more coffee the next day.

I believe everyone should experiment with removing caffeine for a 2-4 week period to see how it really affects your body. If that seems too extreme for you’re liking, you should at the very least pay attention to both the quantity of caffeine and the time of drinking it.