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If there is one thing that Christmas holidays were invented for, it’s napping.
A snooze here, some shut eye there…. such is the beauty of having nowhere to be, and nothing to do, apart from watch festive films and feast on Quality Street.
The only downside? You wake up feeling groggy, and then can’t sleep at night!
Luckily, there’s a potential solution to keep in mind before siesta season sets in...
The Coffee Nap
The ‘coffee nap’ is a little trick of the trade that is widely endorsed as the answer to napping in the day, and avoiding the unwelcome, groggy side effects.
A coffee nap involved drinking coffee before sleeping for a short period of time, usually around 20 minutes.
It may seem counterintuitive, given that we tend to drink coffee to ward off sleep, but in actual fact, many swear by this approach as a way to boost energy levels and productivity.
The Science Bit
So how does it work? Well, first off, the nap itself helps clear your brain of a chemical called adenosine, which causes drowsiness, and in doing so, it frees up the receptors for caffeine. Without the nap, the coffee would have to compete with the adenosine, and would be less effective.
You may think that drinking coffee would prevent you from napping, but keep in mind, it takes around 20 minutes for your body to feel the effects of caffeine. This means it will kick in just at the right time to stop you falling into a deep sleep and writing off the rest of the afternoon.
One word of advice, though, is don’t try this more than six hours before bedtime, and stick to around 200-250 mg of caffeine, which is considered optimal based on the research.*
Keen to give it a go? Bottleshot's New Orleans style cold brew coffee is the perfect way to settle in for a coffee nap this festive season. Cold Brewing is the process of extracting coffee from beans over an extended period of time using cold water. The result? A higher quality product that is stronger in caffeine and much lower in acidity than hot coffee. Bottleshot's fresh authentic flavour is just the complement you need to a cosy day nesting in for the festivities, and it also has the advantage of being ethically sourced and the cans are made from recycled packaging.
Whatever you need the energy boost for, whether it’s ahead of a night out, or just to prepare for the next round of Netflix, a Christmas coffee nap (aka. Nappuccino) might just be the perfect interlude - not to mention indulgence - that we could all do with when self care and celebrations are top of the agenda!
* Take care in cases of caffeine sensitivity.
Sponsored by Bottleshot
