Why coffee make you sleepy? There are few reasons for that, from the diuretic nature of coffee itself, to the amount of the sweetener you use in your cup of coffee.

We all know the reason to drink coffee is to mainly gain its caffeine which can increase our alertness, improving our levels of focus, up to keeping us awake.

But, some of you, me included, somehow feel the other way around after drinking coffee, and you wonder why. So, if you wonder why coffee makes you sleepy, here are the reasons why!

Why Coffee Makes You Sleepy?

Coffee can sometimes leave you with a sleepy feeling due to various factors, such as caffeine-blocking adenosine receptors, dehydration, or even due to the sweetener used in coffee.

Usually, the caffeine in the coffee takes effect within 10 minutes and reaches its peak around 30 to 90 minutes after you consume your cup of coffee.

But, it may differ from every person to the other, due to the caffeine tolerance that varies among individuals.

Coffee sure does affect our body in various ways, and most of us consume it to get an increase in alertness and wake us up.

But, what if it leaves you with a sleepy feeling instead? We’ve compiled some of the list of the reasons why coffee makes you sleepy!

Also Read: “5 Most Expensive Chocolate in the World“

1. Coffee is Diuretic

The first reason is the diuretic nature of coffee, which means the coffee that you consume may cause you to use bathroom more often.

The diuretic nature of coffee is not noticeable if you consume a moderate (2-3 cups) amount of coffee, but it may be noticeable if you drink four or more cups you may find yourself going to the bathroom even more.

If you lose more fluids that you’re drinking, you may feel tired as dehydration takes effect. The other symptoms of dehydration include dry mouth, dizziness, dry skin, feeling thirsty and lack of sweat.

But, as quoted by Harvard Medical, coffee may not actually dehydrate you that much. It’s true that caffeinated drinks may increase your visit to the bathroom, but the water in those drinks still contributes to your overall fluid consumption.

To prevent this, you can balance your caffeine consumption with drinking plenty of water and eat foods that contain water, such as fruits and veggies.

You may also seek some medical attention if your dehydration symptoms include fainting, sped-up heart rate, rapid breather, shock or confusion.

2. Sweetener

A cup of coffee is indeed good with a decent amount of sugar or sweetener, right? Not all people love the bitter taste of coffee but still want to get the benefit of the caffeine contained in it.

But, the sweetener in the coffee may cause you to feel tired if a sugar crash hits you. Sugar crash is another word for a sudden drop in energy levels after consuming a large amount of sugar.

Sugar crashes usually happen when blood glucose levels go below 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).

It happens because when your body ingest more sugar than it’s used to, and insulin is produced to balance it. The bad thing is, the insulin also causes your blood glucose level to drop.

And as we all know, the blood glucose level is the main source of energy for our body.

The symptoms of sugar crash may include:

Feeling hungry
Irritable
Anxious
Sweaty
Dizzy

If you’re experiencing a sugar crash, it is best to try and have some protein to balance out your blood sugar level.

3. Coffee Blocks the Effects of Adenosine

Adenosine is one thing that helps you feel sleepy and other than that, it also helps you to maintain your sleep-wake cycle.

When you drink your favorite cup of coffee in the morning, your stomach and intestine absorbs the caffeine and helps to redistribute it to your blood streams and eventually your brain.

And after it reaches your brain, it sticks to your adenosine receptors and prevents your brain from processing its adenosine.

But, when this process happens, the adenosine doesn’t stop producing, so once the caffeine wears off, there’s a build-up of adenosine that’ll bind to your brain’s receptors, making you feel tired.

4. Caffeine Withdrawal

If you’re a heavy coffee drinker like I am and then you stop abruptly, you’re more likely to feel the effects of caffeine withdrawal.

Some of the most common symptoms of caffeine withdrawal include:

Headache
Nausea
Irritability
Inability to concentrate

You may feel the withdrawal within 12 to 14 hours after you last consume coffee or caffeinated drink.

And depending on how much caffeine you regularly consume, those symptoms may last only a few days or up to a couple of weeks.

If you want to quit drinking coffee and avoid the withdrawal symptoms, you could try to gradually cut back your consumption by switching it to green tea for less caffeine for a few days.

Continue cutting back until you feel like you’re no longer needing to consume caffeine.

5. Caffeine Tolerance

Over time, people who habitually drink coffee may develop caffeine tolerance. One study found that physically active adults began to experience fewer effects of caffeine after 15 days of regular consumption.

Therefore, if you drink coffee during the day with the intention of increasing energy and preventing sleepiness, you will not feel the increase in energy and remain sleepy despite drinking coffee. However, research on caffeine tolerance is still uncertain.

6. Mold in the Coffee

Another reason you feel tired and sleepy after drinking coffee is due to mold contamination.

A study in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, examined coffee samples and found the presence of mycotoxins, a product of micro mold.

Mycotoxin exposure is associated with chronic fatigue.Those with chronic fatigue will make us feel tired easily, even after rest and may experience sleep problems.

Other symptoms of chronic fatigue from this mold contamination include dizziness and difficulty thinking and concentrating.

So there you have it! The reason why coffee makes you sleepy!

It must be noted that coffee consumption can indeed increase alertness levels and eliminate the drowsiness we feel.

However, one thing you should know is that excessive coffee consumption can also cause some drawbacks that you may feel.

So, consume coffee in moderation and also consume high-quality coffee to guarantee a good and safe coffee!

Talking about high-quality coffee, how do you determine the high-quality one? Well, it is easy if you stay in Indonesia, as there are several standards that regulate the quality of coffee.

The standard is called SNI which stands for Standar Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian National Standard) that regulates most if not all of the products sold and distributed in Indonesia.

Other than that, this standard/regulation also regulates and sets the standard of many services and/or installation methods to ensure everything is up to Indonesian standard, thus improving the overall safety of many industries.

This standard surely will give us as a consumer a peace of mind, knowing that almost everything that sold and distributed is already tested for its quality and safety.

Other than that, the SNI certification also can be quite beneficial for business owners alike. Imagine you’re a business owner and your products have already been tested and meet certain standards like the SNI.

It surely can boost the trust of Indonesian consumers especially, to your products, and you can use it as marketing tools to further increase your products’ or business’ reach within the Indonesian market.

Not going to stop there, the SNI certification also can be mandatory for certain products, take motorcycle helmets for example.

And because it must be certified by the SNI certification, having your products certified will also be a testament that your product and business have already followed Indonesian law and regulation, thus saving you from a problem that might occur later on.

Back to the black-magic-liquid we’re talking about, the SNI for the coffee itself is clearly stated in: