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Can you drink coffee at night?

We’ve all been there: It’s getting late, there are a ton of essays to grade and you still need to plan for tomorrow. There’s reading to be done, you want to check out what’s going on over on #edchat on Twitter, and don’t forget about all that ‘other stuff’ that you’ve been putting off (who really needs their laundry folded anyway?).

But before you reach for that cup of coffee to get you through the evening, take a quick pause. Have you ever wondered what slugging down that caffeine at nighttime really does to your body? The handy infographic below takes a look at how much caffeine messes with your circadian clock.

So if we were going to prescribe to the education=change way of thinking, we’d be forced to assume that you’d see that coffee screws with your circadian clock, and not drink it at night. But we all know that isn’t going to happen in every case, so we’re all about mitigating the consequences: How MUCH coffee can you drink at night before you’re going to be up all night.

Can You Drink Coffee At Night?

The short answer is: yes, you can probably drink coffee at night, within reason.

Two shots of espresso move the clock about 45 minutes.

But a bright light moves the clock about 85 minutes!

Together, a bright light and 2 shots of espresso move the clock about 105 minutes!

When you’re sitting up at night, staring at your computer with the lights on and drinking coffee, you’re probably right that you’re feeling pretty darned….awake. Many studies have shown that the blue light from computer screens are especially disruptive to your sleep.

So if you’re probably going to need some coffee to get you through your evening of diligent work and accomplishing things, maybe you should just drink your coffee in the dark.

Featured image via Flickr

Written by Katie Dunn



Explorer, eternal learner, animal lover. Perpetually drawn to the ocean. Adventure ready. Suffers from wanderlust. Likes chasing things down the sink with the little sprayer thingy.

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