A Better Night’s Sleep Might Depend on Your Caffeine Intake

For many of us, a daily cup of joe in the morning is as routine as brushing our teeth or combing our hair. Forty-three percent of Americans are likely to drink coffee or some form of caffeine to get a jolt of energy. But what they may not know is that it takes six hours for just half of the caffeine you consumed to leave your body. Drinking any more than 250 milligrams of caffeine a day (about 3 eight ounce cups) is putting yourself at risk for a caffeine related sleep issues like insomnia, anxiety, irritability, headaches, nervousness, and rapid heart beats.

Here are some tips for lowering your caffeine intake:

1. Know the ingredients of what your consuming, some foods or drinks may contain caffeine you weren’t aware of.
2. Decrease your intake gradually. It’s best to slowly drink smaller quantities over time than attempting to cut out all caffeine.
3. Water down drinks you know contains caffeine, then you can still enjoy your favorite drinks but you’ll be consuming less caffeine.
4. Try switching to something different like tea.
5. Try decaffeinated versions of your favorite drinks.
6. Consider if you really need that additional late morning cup of coffee.
7. Brew tea for less time to lessen the caffeine amount.
8. Use a smaller cup.
9. Alternate between one cup of coffee and one cup of tea, or one can of caffeinated soda and one can of non-caffeinated.
10. Check your pain-relievers, some contain caffeine.

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