Why Does Coffee Make Me Sleepy? 5 Reasons Explained

Ever wondered why caffeine makes me tired? As per a study, in the USA, the most significant source of caffeine is coffee. Coffee itself is not harmful, but caffeine can make you feel tired as you experience a caffeine crash. Can caffeine make you tired? Yes, sometimes. Caffeine makes you tired due to some factors like:

1. Coffee Blocks Adenosine

Adenosine is a naturally present hormone that makes you sleepy. This hormone controls your sleep-wake cycle. It increases during the awake hours and decreases while you sleep. When you consume coffee, your body absorbs caffeine, and it sticks to your adenosine receptors. 

Caffeine blocks the receptors from receiving adenosine, and that’s why you feel alert after having coffee. After some time, when the caffeine effect wears off, a buildup of adenosine hits you all at once. That’s how caffeine can make you feel more tired. 

2. Caffeine Can Add to Stress

Anyone with stress-induced insomnia knows that stress can keep us awake during the night. When you consume coffee, the stress hormone or cortisol levels increase in your body. When the level is high, you feel stress and anxiety that can keep you awake all night. Although it’s excellent if you wish to stay awake, it can lead to fatigue later during the day.  

A study found that consuming caffeine doubled the levels of cortisol and epinephrine in your body. You can feel stressed after the caffeine effect goes away. Ultimately, stress converts into sleepiness, and you start feeling sleepy after coffee. 

3. You Have Built up Your Caffeine Tolerance 

People who consume coffee can build a tolerance to caffeine. As coffee blocks the adenosine receptors, as a result, your body starts producing more adenosine receptors. 

A small study was conducted to examine continuous coffee consumption on the cycling of 11 active adults. 

Initially, the participants had higher heart rates and exerted great power after drinking caffeine. After 15 days, the effect of caffeine started to decline. 

If we observe these results, it appears that the effect of caffeine declines with time. 

Although, some researchers contradict this and believe that regular caffeine consumption does not affect how your body metabolizes it. 

4. It’s the Sugar, Not Coffee

Milk, coffee, and sugar together make a perfect cup of coffee. Some of you may like coffee sweetened with honey, whipped cream, or sugar.  As we all know, sugar is infamous for sugar crashes making us sleepy and tired. 

When you increase your sugar intake, your body produces insulin to create a balance. But the insulin makes your blood sugar drop, which is your primary energy source.

With a drop in blood sugar, you get tired, anxious, and hungry. It’s not only the case with coffee, but sweet food items like candies, chocolates, and alike can have a similar effect. 

You should consume more protein to balance a sugar crash. 

5. Coffee Is a Diuretic

Do you feel like going to the toilet more often after having coffee? That’s because coffee is a diuretic. That means it helps you get rid of water and salt in your body. Coffee consumption increases the risk of dehydration. 

If you consume coffee without drinking sufficient water, you can feel the symptoms of dehydration, like:

• Tiredness
• Confusion
• Dryness (mouth and skin)
• Dizziness
• Thirst

Make sure you drink enough water daily with caffeine consumption. An average adult should have a water intake of 2.72 liters to 3.66 liters per day.