What is a coffee nap? The effect of coffee nap? Don't take a coffee break for more than 20 minutes?

The science behind the coffee nap

Coffee is a stimulant. When you drink coffee or anything that contains caffeine, it is absorbed through the small intestine and into the bloodstream. Caffeine is both water-soluble and fat-soluble-it dissolves in your blood and cell membranes. These properties cause caffeine to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and enter your brain.

Once in the brain, caffeine is located in the brain cell receptor of adenosine, a chemical neuroregulator that accumulates in large amounts and makes the body feel tired. Structurally, caffeine is like adenosine-it can easily integrate into adenosine receptors in brain cells. But in doing so, it must compete with adenosine.

Napping naturally removes adenosine from the brain. If you take a 20-minute nap after drinking coffee, you can effectively remove adenosine from your brain and reduce competition for caffeine when it enters brain cell receptors. During a coffee nap, some levels of competitive adenosine are cleared during your nap, so caffeine can get more space in your brain and increase your alertness.

Research shows the efficacy of coffee napping

The theory of coffee napping sounds promising. Scientists and researchers have conducted some studies to support the claim that coffee napping is more effective than drinking coffee or napping alone. Although there are only a few small sample sizes in studies on this subject, they all point to the fact that coffee napping is effective.

A study of 12 sleep individuals showed that participants who took 200 milligrams of caffeine and then took a 15-minute nap felt 91% less sleepy while driving than those without caffeine and napping two hours before they were placed in a driving simulator. This is true even if they do not sleep during the nap, but just lie there and half-sleep.

Now coffee nap can effectively eliminate driver's drowsiness in the following aspects. In this study, compared with the control group, 10 sleepy adults took 150 milligrams of caffeine less than 15 minutes before going to bed and felt significantly less sleepy within two hours in the driving simulator.

All these studies have shown that drinking coffee before taking a nap can improve productivity.

The duration of a coffee nap

In a coffee nap, time is crucial. If you want to take advantage of both coffee and a nap, your coffee nap should be between 15 and 20 minutes. It should not take more than 20 minutes, otherwise, coffee napping will not be so effective.

The whole process of coffee breaking down and reaching the brain takes about 20 minutes, when your body will begin to feel the effects of coffee. Before that, if you can take a quick nap and naturally remove adenosine from your brain, it will leave more room for caffeine to stay in your brain's cellular receptors. The presence of more stimulants will improve your performance for the rest of the day.

There is another reason why napping for more than 20 minutes during a coffee nap is not recommended. It takes about 20 minutes for your body to enter the deep sleep stage, and if you wake up from the deep sleep stage, you may feel drowsy and disoriented for a while. You will be in a state of sleep inertia, which will counteract the effect of a coffee nap.

On the contrary, when you sleep for 20 minutes, you will wake up before entering a deeper sleep. You won't experience sleep inertia and wake up feeling refreshed.