Tip of the Week! Did you know?

Coffee Powered Naps

1LT Taylor

We all love naps and we know the benefits proper rest on performance. But it turns out that drinking a small cup of coffee before a short power-nap may actually help boost your performance!

One study showed that drinking about 200mg (one to two cups of coffee) and then taking a 20-minute nap, resulted in participants feeling more alert upon waking. The “why” behind this is that your body naturally accumulates adenosine, they byproduct of wakefulness and activity and is responsible for the tired feeling. A nap actually acts as a reset button and clears out the adenosine from your brain. Caffeine takes about 20-45min to actually “kick in” and when it does, binds to the adenosine sites in your brain acting as a “fatigue blocker”. So your cup of coffee may not keep you from falling asleep, but will help you feel more alert and focused after you wake!

So if you find yourself feeling sleepy during the day, grab that cup of coffee and take a small break, your brain will thank you!

Works Cited

Brooks A., L. L. (2006, June 29). A brief afternoon nap following nocturnal sleep restriction: which nap duration is most recuperative? Retrieved from PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16796222