Nearly half of us wake up in the morning, and, before doing anything else, we drink coffee. And the more tired we feel, the stronger we want our coffee. But a study monitored how sleep and coffee consumption could affect our blood sugar. Poorly regulated blood sugar has been known to adversely affect our health, contributing to Type II diabetes conditions.
Leading researcher Harry Smith has noted that a single night of missed sleep didn’t affect anyone’s health. But it should be noted that continued lack of sleep has been known to hurt the body. Going straight from one night’s poor sleep to a strong cup of black coffee also seemed to affect people. Smith noted, “…starting a day after a poor night’s sleep with a strong coffee did harm glucose metabolism by around 50 percent.” The researchers instead suggest having your morning coffee after a healthy breakfast, and not before.
Coffee is Not a Substitute For Sleep or Breakfast
Admittedly, the study itself was relatively small, involving only 29 healthy men and women. The participants went through 3 different overnight tests in random order. The first test was a typical night’s sleep and a sugary beverage in the morning. The second test involved being woken up every hour for five minutes and the same sugary morning drink. The third test mirrored test 2 for sleep disruption, but participants were first given strong black coffee and then followed up with the sugary drink after 30 minutes. The study results indicated to researchers that coffee was not an adequate substitute for either sleep or breakfast. Of course, these findings don’t give us the complete picture.
Harry Smith agrees that more research is needed. This study helps highlight essential gaps in our knowledge. While the results may not be conclusive, the study helps expand our understanding of caffeine, sleep, and metabolism.