Coffee is known to improve brain activity, promote weight loss, and lower the risk of diabetes. On the whole, coffee offers a plethora of benefits, but it doesn’t always produce positive effects. For instance, coffee can cause fatigue in some people.
An element called adenosine, which controls the urge to sleep, is behind the drowsy effects of coffee. Caffeine blocks adenosine to make you feel alert and energized, usually for a few hours. This results in a build-up of adenosine, which comes back with full force when the caffeine wears off.
Coffee shouldn’t make you feel tired, but if it does, it’s likely that your body is producing more adenosine than normal — or you’ve developed a caffeine tolerance. Let’s take a closer look at why this happens and how you can minimize any feelings of tiredness you may experience after having coffee.
Why Does Coffee Make Some People Tired?
People primarily drink coffee to feel alert and energized, but in some cases, coffee can actually have the complete opposite effect. The following are possible reasons why that may be happening:
Coffee Interferes With the Effects of Adenosine
The most likely reason for feeling tired after drinking coffee is that caffeine affects adenosine production. In a nutshell, adenosine is a compound that manages the body’s sleep cycle. The brain produces this compound to influence the need for sleep. Without adenosine, we wouldn’t be able to fall asleep.
To create a sense of alertness, caffeine binds itself to adenosine receptors, and this makes you feel more awake.
However, caffeine doesn’t actually stop the production of adenosine, so as soon as the effects of caffeine wear off, all the excess adenosine takes over. As a result, you feel even more tired than before chugging down that cup of joe.
Sugar
Another possible reason for feeling tired after that morning cup of jitter juice could be the sugar in your drink. This may sound ironic since sugar is supposed to provide an energy kick, but it comes down to science.
While sugar initially creates an energy surge in your body, the effects generally don’t last long. The after-effect of that burst of energy is an energy slump.
Coffee Mildly Dehydrates You
According to several studies, coffee is a diuretic. Diuretics remove excess water from your body by removing sodium. That said, drinking coffee causes frequent urination, and when you lose more water than you drink, your body may experience dehydration-like symptoms. One of the common symptoms of dehydration is fatigue.
What Is Adenosine and How Does Coffee Affect it?
Adenosine is a crucial component of every cell in our bodies. Its primary role is to regulate our sleep-wake cycle; that is, it largely influences when we fall asleep. The human body naturally produces this element and, because of its involvement in a wide array of body functions, it’s known as the “master regulator.”
Aside from controlling the sleep cycle, it also monitors blood flow and heart rhythm.
Given how crucial it is to the human body, an FDA-approved injectable form of adenosine can be prescribed for conditions such as rapid heart rate or irregular sleep patterns.
The amount of adenosine your body produces is directly proportional to the amount of energy your body expends throughout the day. Simply put, adenosine promotes the sleep drive to allow your body to refuel.
Coffee affects adenosine directly and indirectly. It counters the effects of adenosine in order to increase activity in your brain and nervous system. It achieves this by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain.
In the long haul, it triggers an overproduction of adenosine to compensate for lower levels of it when caffeine levels are high in your bloodstream.
What Is Your Caffeine Tolerance?
When you consume coffee regularly and in large doses, it eventually stops having effects on your body. That phenomenon is called caffeine tolerance. You can build caffeine tolerance in as little as a month if you’re drinking more than the recommended amount.
It’s not a medical emergency in itself, but it can have a ripple effect on your health. When your body develops a tolerance to caffeine, you’ll find yourself needing more and more coffee to get that usual “kick.” This of course means you’re consuming more caffeine than the recommended amount.
The good news is that you take a break from coffee to reset your caffeine tolerance. The only way to undo your caffeine tolerance is to cut back on consumption for a couple of weeks. This will give your body time to revert back to its natural way of functioning without the extra boost from caffeine.
Are You Dehydrated?
Dehydration is a potential symptom of regular coffee intake because coffee is a diuretic. Diuretics basically cause your body to produce more urine. Now you know why you’ve had to take frequent bathroom breaks after chugging down a cup of joe.
Does coffee dehydrate though? The short answer is no. It’s highly unlikely that coffee’s going to leave you dehydrated. You’d need to consume excessively large servings daily for that to happen. However, you may feel dehydrated because of frequent urination and caffeine-induced fatigue.
One thing to keep in mind is that, because of its water content, coffee hydrates your body, despite it being a diuretic. That said, for caffeine to cause dehydration, its diuretic effects would need to be strong enough to offset the hydration it provides.
Nevertheless, in very rare cases, you can find yourself dehydrated from drinking coffee and the symptoms you might experience are:
- Light-headedness
- Dizziness
- Constant thirst
- Dry eyes, lips and mouth
- Urinating fewer than four times a day
How Coffee Affects Changes in Blood Sugar
Sugar’s main role in your body is to provide energy, but an excess of it can be detrimental to your health. To regulate sugar levels, the body produces insulin. Coffee, on the other hand, affects sugar changes by impairing insulin reaction. The science behind it is that with insulin reacting slower, sugar levels spike in your blood.
The spike in your blood sugar could also be from something as simple as the sugar in your coffee, especially if you personalize your drink with milk, syrup, or other add-ons that are high in sugar.
It’s absolutely normal for your blood sugar level to fluctuate throughout the day as you ingest foods and beverages. A subtle rise in your sugar level after drinking coffee also doesn’t fall outside the norm, provided it remains within a healthy range.
Testing your blood sugar level doesn’t require a healthcare professional. You can do it from the comforts of your home with a reliable Glucometer (on Amazon).
Ways to Minimize Tiredness After Caffeine
Feeling tired after drinking coffee defeats the purpose. Luckily, there are ways to minimize or even avoid this side effect, in order to benefit from the full coffee experience. You can try these tips:
Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated doesn’t directly help you feel less tired, but it gets your blood moving and it prevents common dehydration symptoms such as fatigue. Experts recommend that you reach for a cup of water before hitting that morning joe.
Avoid Sugar in Coffee
Sugar-less coffee may not sound too thrilling, but it can help you avoid the energy slump after caffeine. You can use natural substitutes like cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and creamy Almond milk (on Amazon) to add some sweetness to your coffee.
Limit Caffeine Intake
Lastly, the most effective way to stop caffeine-induced drowsiness is to hit the brakes on caffeine consumption in general. This will slowly undo your caffeine tolerance, which is a possible reason why you feel tired after drinking coffee.
The Final Word
It’s not enough to grab a coffee, sit back and wait for the effects to kick in. Depending on your level of caffeine tolerance, blood sugar, and other factors, you’ll also need to implement tips and tricks to feel the full energizing boost of your next cup of coffee. Staying hydrated is a good start!