Naps are better than sugary caffeine drinks

The July issue of Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental published research demonstrating that high sugar, high caffeine drinks tend to cause SLOWER reaction times and more lapses in concentration than drinking a no sugar, no caffeine drink.

This may come as a surprise to those of you who feel that sugar and caffeine boost your energy and helps you concentrate.

In this study, 10 volunteers slept five hours less than normal before participating in the study.

After eating a light lunch, they were given either an energy drink (defined as having 30mg of caffeine and 42g of sugar) or an identical tasting no-sugar drink.

They were then asked to perform a rote 90 minute test during the afternoon. They were monitored for their level of sleepiness and ability to concentrate.

For the first half hour (30 minutes), there was no difference in the two groups. At 50 minutes after consuming the drinks, the performance of the "energy drink" group started to decline, and they became significantly sleepier.

Other research has demonstrated that high caffeine drinks can boost concentration- for some people.

The findings of this particular study suggest that sugar and caffeine combined is not an effective long-term strategy to combat sleepiness. A better solution, according to the researchers, would be to have a no sugar, caffeinated drink, and a short nap.