What’s a ‘coffee nap’?
A decent cup of coffee may help us remain awake whether it’s in the morning, mid-afternoon, or when we’re pulling an all-nighter. But what if I told you that a cup of coffee followed by a 15- to 20-minute sleep could be a better method to boost your alertness and help you finish whatever chores you have ahead of you?
Here’s what the research says: a cup of coffee before a brief nap is considered to boost energy levels due to its influence on adenosine, an inherent chemical in our bodies. Every cell in our body contains adenosine.
Caffeine is a stimulant, but adenosine makes you sleepy. A nap after a cup of coffee effectively removes adenosine from the brain while you sleep. A brief sleep clears adenosine from the brain, allowing caffeine to enter.
Caffeine then travels to the brain cells where it is intended to bind. We tend to feel more concentrated and capable of maintaining concentration when we first wake up. As a result, evidence suggests that ‘coffee naps’ may be more helpful than coffee or naps alone.
