The amount of caffeine in a double espresso coffee induces a 40-minute delay in the human biological clock , according to the conclusions of the latest research carried out by researchers at the University of Colorado, in Boulder (USA) and the Cambridge Molecular Biology Laboratory (UK).
The scientists started from the basis of the functioning of our internal clock or circadian clock that tunes our body with the cycles of day and night so that our body tells us when we have to sleep or when we have to be clear to face a new day of work . This very useful mechanism, however, is disturbed by external signals such as exposure to bright light before going to sleep or the use of electronic devices in bed.
How does caffeine influence us? To find out, the researchers had the participation of 5 volunteers who were administered a daily pill with caffeine equivalent to two coffees, three hours before going to sleep. After this, they compared the effect on the body of this amount of caffeine with the effect of bright light before sleeping; The results of the analysis at the cellular level of the volunteers revealed that caffeine slowed the circadian clock by 40 minutes (half that of bright light).
“This is the first study to show that caffeine, the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world, influences the human circadian clock. It also provides new and interesting evidence on the effects of caffeine on human physiology, “says Kenneth Wright, co-author of the work.
“These results indicate that when given at the right time, caffeine can be used to set the clock,” says study co-author Kenneth Wright. Which would be equivalent to caffeine not only having to be taken into account as a tool to clear up or take away sleep, but also to balance it .
The study has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine .
