There is a limited amount of time for caffeine to improve your sleepiness

A lot of us drink coffee because we want that caffeine boost that sharpens our wit just enough to get through our day. If you are too sleep deprived, no matter how much coffee you drink, you will still feel tired. The study, “Caffeine Efficacy across a simulated 5-day work week with sleep restriction,” was presented at Sleep 2016, June 14, in Denver. It showed that caffeine improved cognitive abilities the first 2 days of sleep deprivation, but had no effect on day 3 or later.

Coffee, there may come a day when this most awesome of all beverages may not have the expected effect.

In the study sleep was restricted to 5 hours of sleep per day, for 5 days. Participants were administered either 200 mg of caffeine or placebo, twice daily. Participants were then tested for sleepiness. After 3 days of sleep restriction, caffeine did not improve the participants alertness.

Health Canada states that 400 mg/day of caffeine is acceptable, about 2-3 cups of coffee at the most. If you are not able to sleep a full night, coffee will not be reliable. It’s important to ensure that you do get the sleep you need, long-term side effects include memory loss and increased risk of developing type II diabetes.