How Coffee Delays Sleep
A good number of individuals take
coffee when they need to stay awake due to their busy schedules. Old and young
people, students and workers alike consume coffee and coffee-like substances so
as to meet up with some of their already-set expectations.
The chemical substance present in
coffee that inhibits sleep is Caffeine. Apart from addiction, caffeine
has been widely reported to have some negative effect like insomnia and
pregnancy effects. However, it is still widely consumed in coffee and other
caffeinated drinks to hold or delay sleep. Before we go into how caffeine inhibits
sleep, it is good to know a little about why we sleep.
Adenosinea, a nucleosideb, is partly responsible for sleep
regulation. During periods of extended wakefulness(without sleep),
extracellular levels of adenosine rise as a result of the increased metabolic
activity in the brain. When adenosine levels rise, sleepiness sets in and you’ll
start feeling dull and dizzy or sleepy. During sleep, the risen level of
adenosine falls.
See Also
Caffeine, on the other hand, helps
to promote wakefulness. When consumed in coffee or caffeinated drinks, it helps
to block the interaction of extracellular adenosine with its neuronal receptors*.
In this way, adenosine levels stay low and thus sleep is delayed. However, due
to the fact that caffeine has a low half-life and does not last so long in the
body, sleep comes back when the caffeine in your system has been used up.
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| Structure of caffeine on a coffee cup |
Definition of Terms
aAdenosine: a naturally occurring purine
nucleoside that results from the breakdown of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the
primary energy source in cells.
bNucleoside: a structural subunit of nucleic acids, the
heredity-controlling components of all living cells.
Reference
*Porrka-Heiskanem
T. et al., 1997. Adenosine: A
mediator of the sleep-inducing effects of prolonged wakefulness. Science
276:1265 – 1268
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