Why Do I Feel Sleepier After Drinking Coffee? The Paradox of Coffee-Induced Drowsiness

Why Does Coffee Make Some People Sleepy While Others Stay Awake?

We are all drinking coffee, so why does it keep some people awake at night while making others feel even more tired?

After yesterday's article, "Time for Coffee! How Much Coffee Can I Drink in a Day?", was published in Coffee Workshop, I noticed an interesting question: what causes some people to feel even more tired after drinking coffee?

Here, I would like to ask everyone a few questions.

1. Does your coffee contain sugar?

First, have you ever experienced post-meal drowsiness, that sudden sleepiness right after a full meal? Besides the theory that blood pooling in the digestive system causes fatigue, there is another explanation related to blood sugar rising.

So when your cup of coffee is particularly sweet, after two big gulps that post-meal drowsiness kicks in. You might expect the caffeine to wake you first, but before it can, the sugar knocks you down. That is because the body processes sugar much faster than caffeine.

Additionally, a 2016 study on type 2 diabetes showed that caffeine can temporarily reduce insulin sensitivity, affect glucose metabolism, and thereby raise blood sugar levels.

2. Do you drink additional water when consuming coffee?

As everyone knows, coffee has a diuretic effect. Some people applaud that, but it cuts both ways and can even create a vicious cycle of dehydration.

Here is how it works: a person drinks coffee, the coffee prompts urination, urination dehydrates the body, and after dehydration the blood thickens. Because the blood is thicker, blood flow slows, which reduces the rate of oxygen transport. Insufficient oxygen makes people sluggish, and at that point they drink more coffee.

After drinking alcohol, when people feel thirsty they usually reach for water rather than more alcohol. With coffee, though, when they are dehydrated and thirsty, in many cases they simply keep drinking more coffee.

3. Are you deficient in B vitamins?

Today's working professionals are so committed to their jobs that they would practically climb walls to escape them. When they are busy, meal times are often handled casually, and over time that leads to nutritional deficiencies. Human metabolism needs B vitamins, and when the body lacks them, fatigue is more likely.

Caffeine not only speeds up metabolism but also increases the consumption of B vitamins through the added activity in nerve and muscle coordination. Caffeine itself also has to be metabolized and excreted. So when B vitamins are already low, the body is tired to begin with while the amount of substances needing to be processed goes up. The body may then signal that it cannot keep up, leaving you even more tired after drinking coffee.

4. When do you feel tired after drinking coffee? Immediately or several hours later?

Those who read the previous article carefully will know that coffee's stimulating effect comes from caffeine binding to adenosine receptors. Where does adenosine come from? It is one of the byproducts left after adenosine triphosphate (ATP) has been used, and ATP is the most direct source of energy in living organisms.

I believe everyone has experienced a long-distance run and the feeling of being completely drained afterward. As long as you are breathing, your body continuously consumes energy, and while it does, adenosine is produced, then binds to adenosine receptors and sends information about that energy use back to the brain, producing fatigue. Caffeine is so similar to adenosine that the receptors are occupied by caffeine and the fatigue signal cannot get through.

Adenosine, however, does not just disappear. It accumulates, waiting for caffeine to vacate its rightful place, and then the payback begins. Adenosine binds to the receptors, produces fatigue, and pulls you from heaven to hell in a short time.

5. Did you eat foods before drinking coffee that contain ingredients that counteract caffeine?

This is similar to the effect of drinking alcohol after taking anti-hangover medication. If you ate foods containing ingredients that counteract caffeine before drinking coffee, the caffeine will be neutralized in your body and you will still feel tired.

Conclusion

Based on this analysis, we can conclude:

• Avoid drinking coffee with added sugar
• Remember to drink plenty of water when consuming coffee
• Maintain a balanced diet and supplement with essential nutrients
• Consume caffeine in moderation

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Sweetness in coffee is really a combination of taste and aroma, and some coffees deliver it in more complex ways than others. Costa Rica is known for honey-processed coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Blackberry is a good example: a high-altitude single origin with natural floral and fruit aromas, best roasted medium-light, that brews into sweet florals, grape, sweet orange, and chocolate liqueur.

For a different kind of sweetness, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate shows how roast level shapes the finish. Cupping it, you first meet the dense aroma of roasted peanut and dark chocolate, then the bitterness fades and a gentle sweetness comes through and lingers, without dropping off for a while, which is what we call a sweet finish. A medium roast, it shows the region and variety at their best as pour-over, and when extracted in a moka pot or an espresso machine it gives a fine crema and a rich body that makes an Americano or latte especially sweet and full.

FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia Sidra is sweeter still. Its brightness comes from low bitterness and complex aromatics working with the sweet-sour texture in the cup, so you taste grape, apricot, passion fruit, and something like fruit candy. Roasted medium-light, it carries chocolate and light spice sweetness with a fruit-wine finish and plenty of layering, and it suits anyone who loves intense fruit and does not accept bitterness; iced, it drinks like grape juice.

Finally, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy blend combines Costa Rican coffee, known for its honey-processed sweetness, with Ethiopian coffee, known for its bright citrus acidity and florals, so the blend carries rose, strawberry candy, and raisin aromas with balanced grape and citrus acidity and an almond finish. It works as pour-over or cold brew for a clean, fruity cup, and it also extracts well as espresso, with a smooth crema and a dense texture and a sweet-tart strawberry candy profile that makes Americanos and lattes easy.