I never quite understood this, as coffee doesn’t seem to have that effect on me. I can drink a cup of coffee in the evening, and have no problem falling asleep an hour later. In fact, I remember one time I was driving long-distance out west of Brisbane early one morning and was having difficulty staying awake. So I grabbed one of those massive, terrible-tasting $2 coffees from a service station on the way and downed it. But alas, I did not experience a great awakening and had to take a roadside nap before I could continue on my way.
So from what I can tell, I seem to be in a small class of people who don’t physiologically respond to caffeine. Researchers think that “true” non-responders to caffeine are quite rare (comprising less than 5% of the population), but at least 10% of us have genetic traits that make us much less affected by it compared to everyone else. I have a friend who drinks coffee to help him sleep! On top of this, one in two people are fast metabolisers of caffeine, which means their body gets rid of the caffeine fairly quickly and so its effects are short-lived. And of course, regularly drinking coffee can build up your tolerance to caffeine. Conversely, one in ten people are ultra-slow metabolisers of caffeine. So maybe that is the reason why coffee keeps you awake for so long… Which group are you in? Does coffee work for your caffeine hit, or can you enjoy a cappuccino half an hour before bed?
