Caffeine window

Keeping a personal caffeine intake schedule has many health benefits. Choose your preferable caffeine sources (e.g., coffee, unsmoked yerba mate) and integrate them into your daily routine.

Complete this habit once your caffeine intake schedule is in place.

You should consider two things about your caffeine routine - dosage and timing. For a single dose, 1 to 3 mg of caffeine per kilogram (1 kg = 2.2 lb) of body weight is the range in which caffeine can have positive effects avoiding unwanted ones, such as elevated anxiety. If you aren't used to caffeine intake, you should start with 1 mg per kilogram. Be careful not to ingest very high levels of caffeine over long periods because it can cause you to lose sodium and disrupt the microvasculature.

Consider delaying your caffeine intake 90 to 120 minutes after waking unless you plan a hard workout early in the morning. This way, you'll support your circadian rhythm and avoid the afternoon crash, which may result in consuming caffeine too close to sleep.

Restrict caffeine intake before bedtime since its effect can last up to 12 hours. Consuming caffeine too late in the day may disrupt your sleep.

Develop your caffeine schedule:

• find the appropriate caffeine dosage for you;
• delay your caffeine intake by 90-120 minutes in the morning;
• restrict caffeine intake up to 12 hours before sleep;
• limit yourself to 3-6 cups of coffee per day.

Caffeine effects on the body

• It increases neuromodulators - adrenalin, dopamine, and acetylcholine, leading to more focus and energy.
• Regular use of caffeine increases dopamine receptors and their sensitivity creating favourable conditions to receive more dopamine. Therefore, overall motivation increases and all the positive feelings bring even more joy. 
• It acts as a reinforcing agent increasing the probability of consuming caffeine-containing drinks or foods followed by associated activities, like running, which under other circumstances may not be so pleasant.
• It acts as an antagonist to adenosine (a chemical suppressing energy production in the cells). Caffeine parks its receptors and blocks the function of adenosine by offsetting feelings of tiredness and sleepiness. This way, reserves of adenosine accumulate later, causing feelings of excessive sleepiness. Adenosine is cleared from our system during sleep. Thus, the lowest level of it is in the morning, increasing throughout the day. Delaying caffeine intake in the morning helps clear adenosine and feel refreshed all day.
• Studies have shown that caffeine has neuroprotective effects, and regular consumption can help offset developing neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's-related dementia. It can improve exercise performance, reduce biological age (e.g., people who drank 3-6 cups of coffee a day were found 5.6 years younger), and minimize the risk of death (e.g., people who drank between 2.5-4.5 cups of coffee a day had a 29% reduction in death).
• Caffeinated beverages contain the molecule GLP-1. It reduces appetite and, more importantly, stimulates thermogenesis and conversion of white fats to brown fats, which is extremely healthy. Due to its effects, GLP-1 is beneficial for weight loss, mental performance, and controlling blood sugar levels.
• Drinking coffee provides your body with ketones, antioxidants, and over 1000 other molecules that are believed to slow down the process of aging.

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Liu et al. Association of Sugar-Sweetened, Artificially Sweetened, and Unsweetened Coffee Consumption With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality. Annals of Internal Medicine 2022. https://doi.org/10.7326/m21-2977