WHY HAPPY HOUR IS THE BEST TIME FOR A TIPPLE

STUDIES have shown that our bodies process alcohol more effectively at certain times of the day.

It turns out they are attuned to Happy Hour, metabolising alcohol best in the early to middle hours of the evening rather than later at night. Certain types of alcohol, such as vodka and gin — without sugary mixers — may also be tolerated better.

The same applies to caffeine, so think about when you decide to drink anything containing it.

When you are feeling tired, what could be more inviting than caffeine? It gives you an almost instant second wind, laser-focuses your mind and potentially helps you burn more calories at the gym. But when it comes to sleep? Total disaster.

That is because caffeine is a stimulant — and the way it revs you up is by blocking the receptors in your brain that recognise the sleep-inducing neurotransmitter [or brain chemical] adenosine.

Adenosine is what builds up in your system during your waking hours, creating sleep pressure or the urge to sleep.

Caffeine basically stops that happening, tricking the brain into believing it’s not tired. But the longer caffeine blocks adenosine, the more it builds up in your system. When the effects of caffeine eventually wear off, all that backlogged adenosine comes rushing back into the brain, making you feel even more tired than before you had that coffee/ black tea/energy drink.

Caffeine inhibits melatonin production even more than bright light does, further disrupting sleep.

So now you need caffeine to wake up and function, which makes you sleepier, which makes you need more caffeine — a circular process known as the ‘caffeine causality loop’.

If you want to aid sleep, you must catch that loop mid-stream and

reset the rhythm. The way to do that is to be smarter about how much caffeine you are having and when.

Set a caffeine cut-off. We recommend having your last hit no later than 1pm.

Caffeine has a half-life of roughly five to seven hours, meaning that five to seven hours after you drink a coffee, half the caffeine is still in your body.

If you are a slow metaboliser, this could take even longer. Try cutting back on the number, or size, of coffees you drink — or have a decaf one instead of one of your normal drinks.