Caffeine

We all know a ‘coffee doesn’t affect me’ guy. He loves telling people about the double espresso he drinks before going to bed. You don’t hear much more from him because the next time you look, he’s face down on the table. We’re still amateurs when it comes to strong coffee. (Too many of us still call it expresso.) So, while other countries have got used to the notion that there is a time for everything, we’re still wondering why we’re staring at the ceiling for two hours a night. Factor in our inability to form memories or learn anything (see above), and it’s no surprise we’re downing a double espresso at 7pm the following day, to get us the through to bedtime. Here’s the science bit. A sleep research foundation in the US found that caffeine taken six hours before bedtime could cause you to lose an hour’s sleep. The advice is to take no more than 400mg of caffeine (four cups of coffee a day), and to limit them to morning and early afternoon. Finally, while expensive brown leather shoes look good on Italians, they just make us look like bogmen. In a similar vein, don’t think it’s cool to ape Italians by drinking a double espresso at midnight. We’re just not cut out for it.