Coffee: Bad for Sleep

relaxation is very important to human beings especially because it allows both our minds and body to rest. It sorts out and arranges our memory and it is obligatory for our body to function well. In fact about 40% of a persons day is allocated to sopor throughout adolescence. However, adolescents who be plurality gray 12 to 18 years need 9 hours of stop but on average virtually teens get 7 hours only (Mindell and Owens 30). A mixing of factors contributes to the tendency of staying up late among adolescents this includes pedantic life, social life, and electronic media such as computers, televisions and cellphones.Adolescents particularly college students nowadays are most likely to stay up late because of homework or next days long exam. In the case of the Computer Science Sophomore Students of the University of the Philippines, generating codes for machine problems and laboratories keeps them stay up all night thus getting less quietus. To keep them going, some drink a shape of chocolate to avoid drowsiness. Coffee contains caffein which serves as a stimulant. It keeps one stay energise but it disrupts quietus.That is why to avoid sleeping difficulties it is recommended that coffee should non be taken within four to half-dozen hours before bedtime. Gasapo 2 Coffee is a beverage which contains caffeine-a widely used stimulant. Caffeine can indeed bring mental alertness but shifts sleep. In a recent interview of selected UP Computer Science students, some complain that after coffee consumption they had a hard time locomote asleep. Furthermore, they said that they usually wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back to sleep.Lynne Lamberg, author of the Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Drugs Drugs and Sleep said thatthe need to sleep is an organizing force for living creatures (21). The importance of sleep to ones health is often overlooked by many people furthermore not getting enough sleep could greatly affect every aspect of our health, viewing and behavior. Generally, every aspect of ones physical, emotional, cognitive and social development is impact by sleep (Mindell and Owens 6).However, lifes demands on teens as well as their competing priorities such as their social and academic lives often lead them to sleep deprivation. close adolescents take a form of coffee to avoid drowsiness and to stay alert during the night. In fact during adolescence, the sign exposure to caffeine takes place (Wagman 213). This is usually in the form of coffee and other caffeinated drinks such as soda and tea. Sheryl Laudito, in her article Staying Healthy with a Cup of Coffee said that Coffee is a social binder, a warmer of tongues, a soberer of minds and a stimulant of wit (3).This is a come-at-able contend why people Gasapo 3 are more inclined to inebriety coffee than any other beverage. As author of The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Drugs Caffeine- the Most Popular Stimulant, Dr. Gilbert Richard notes that f indings of a recent study showed that coffee drinkers prefer coffee because of the following reasons It gives one a feeling of well-being It calms It orients and helps one think It makes one less irritable It gets one going and wakes one up. These are also the same reasons for those coffee drinkers from the interview conducted.The following could also be possible reasons why more people are inclined to drinking coffee these are as follows inherited coffee drinking habits, and influence of fast-paced modus vivendi and work (Placido B3). Coffee, as defined by Stunning in Encyclopedia Americana, is the seeds or beans of any of a pigeonholing of tropical evergreen shrubs of the genus caffea, in the mad family (Rubiaceae). Even though large quantities of coffee are used in flavors and extracts, coffee in the form of beverage is mostly consumed (187). The major(ip) component plant in coffee is caffeine.It is found naturally in coffee and tea as well as in carbonated beverages and medic ations (Wagman 213). Caffeine has a serve of effects to human health, it is widely used as a stimulant and many people especially those who stay up late and work at night depend on coffee. In order to stay alert, people rely mostly on coffee (Reyes E1). Gasapo 4 According to a psychologist and caffeine investigator Harris Lieberman, Coffee improves alertness and reaction time in people, whether theyre habitual consumers of coffee or not (qtd. in Reyes E1).People like to drink coffee because they know that the chemical caffeine which is found in coffee prevents them from getting drowsy and helps them gain alertness and improve their reaction time. In addition, studies show that caffeine consumption could further improve reading speed, performance in mathematical as well as verbal tests and generally increase intellectual capacitance (Reyes B3). Indeed, drinking coffee could provide mental alertness and could help ones mental functions to work well. However as a consequence of stayi ng awake and alert all night, sleep is compromised.People will have a hard time falling asleep, would wake up during the night and would get less sleep than what their body requires. In the conducted interview, many complained that they had difficulties waking up in the morning have headaches feel sleepy during the day and would usually doze off in class. Coffee nerves are developed from too much caffeine consumption. It is usually characterized by trembling, nervousness, muscle tension, irritability, headaches, disorientation and most probably insomnia (Reyes B3). No sleep is the literal meaning the term insomnia.It is now used to define a condition where people tend to have trouble falling or staying asleep, and not being able to function as Gasapo 5 usual the next day as a consequence (Lamberg 25). Based on the indications mentioned above, the coffee drinkers from the group of sophomore Computer Science students of UPV from the interview conducted experience insomnia. This is mai nly due to their intake of coffee few hours before going to bed. According to caffeine secure Roland Griffiths, people tend to report increased alertness and energy after consuming anywhere from 20 to 200 mg of caffeine (qtd. n Reyes E1).A cup of coffee contains about 50 mg of caffeine. Caffeine being a mild stimulant is used as a psychoactive drug worldwide. extensive times of falling asleep and awakening during the night are some effects of caffeine when taken near bedtime. This is because caffeine could remain for several hours and relate to have stimulating effect in the bloodstream (Lamberg 30). The peak of caffeine level in our body is one hour after consumption. In collar to seven hours later, only more than one half of the ingested caffeine is broken down and considered inactive (Reyes M7).This is the reason why it is difficult to fall asleep because by the time you are about to sleep after gaining mental alertness and wakefulness during the night, caffeine would facili tate be present in the bloodstream and would still continue its stimulating effect for as long as seven hours after the time it was consumed. Moreover, Tim Roehrs, a director of research at the Sleep overthrow Center of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit explained that caffeine interferes with Gasapo 6 adenosine, the brains sleep regulator (qtd. n Reyes E1). Caffeines major effect, insomnia or having difficulty falling asleep has a very serious impact to ones health. If sleep is lesser than what the body requires, it will not be able to function well and accordingly. As adolescents we must be aware of the real price that we pay for not getting enough sleep. contend the costs such as depression, unequal grades, poor school performance, mood issues and many more. Sleep deprivation affects the way we think and the way we make decisions when we are stressed emotionally.Being unable to perform well in class and having low attention span and less interest to the lesson are manifested b y the sleep deprived sophomore Computer Science students. According to Owens and Mindel, research shows that the skills most compromised by loss of sleep are the skills for organization and time management, the skill to multitask, prioritize, sort through a lot of information accurately, and the skill to think creatively (229). If someone is sleep deprived or experiences insomnia, he or she may have a difficult time waking up in the morning.Sleep deprivation would eventually cause higher incidences of tardiness, increased rates of absenteeism to catch up on sleep, and if these incidences continue, in that respect will obviously be a higher tendency of dropout rates. Attitude and motivation may Gasapo 7 also suffer if a student is sleep deprived. Studies show that well rested students are more responsive to teachers and would participate well in class compared to sleepier ones (Owens, Mindel 230). Behavior may also be affected if a person is sleep deprived. Frustration tolerance bec omes lower as well as emotional control.Moreover, sleep deprived teens may be poor rested and overtired and would not be able to cope with problems around them, moodiness and irritability may also be an effect of not getting the enough sleep that your body actually requires. Table 1 shows the effects of lack of sleep according to Dr. Owens and Mindell (28). Lack of Sleep Lack of sleep affects mood. A sleepy barbarian is more * irritable * cranky * moody * whiny Lack of sleep affects learning.A sleepy child has * a shorter attention span * difficulty focusing * a harder time remembering things * difficulty solving problems. Lack of sleep affects behavior A sleepy person is more likely to * misbehave * be strong-growing * be hyperactive * be uncooperative. lack of sleep affects health in that it * lowers immune function( a child is more likely to get colds) * increase inadvertent injuries * affect growth hormone secretion Gasapo 8 An adolescents life especially as a student is ver y demanding. They have competing priorities which includes school and social demands. In case of the sophomore Computer Science students of UPV, examples of these demands are finishing machine problems, after-school jobs and social activities as well.These are the reasons why they stay up late. Coffee, the most available stimulant is a big help for these students to achieve mental alertness and wakefulness. Coffee may come in different forms wherein students would enjoy drinking them depending on their preference. But whatever form it is, aside from decaffeinated ones, coffee still contains caffeine. Although caffeine may be effective for mental functions, it can greatly disturb sleep. So if one desires to drink coffee in order to achieve wakefulness and mental alertness at night without compromising sleep, coffee should be consumed four to six hours before bedtime.Restricting oneself to two cups of coffee a day can already give the maximum benefits of alertness by having one cup fi rst in the morning and the other in the midafternoon (Lamberg 33). If one considers drinking coffee to be very essential and could boost up performance, there is no reason to deprive oneself of its benefits. Just take into consideration that to avoid putting ones health at risk, coffee should be taken at a considerable amount and at the right time.