A quality night’s sleep is key to maintaining concentration and productivity, avoiding weight gain and lowering the risk of getting a heart disease. Sleep is extremely important for our mental and physical health. Unfortunately, many people struggle with insomnia or just simply can’t get quality sleep.
Michael Pollan, the creator of the Audible Unique audio guide called “Caffeine”claims that avoiding caffeine is the key to a good sleep. He explains that every person is caffeinated and that until people get off caffeine, they don’t notice how common that state is.
Pollan explains that caffeine is a drug we use every day. We’ve never considered is a drug, but the reality is that it caffeine causes addiction.
To show how caffeine affects people, he decided to quit it for 3 months. At the beginning of his experiment, he felt out of tune and lost his confidence.He felt like he couldn’t focus.
“After a pair of days, I used to be sleeping like a teen once more. It was the one upside I might see, and it was an enormous one. It was fantastic to have these deep, dream-filled sleeps,” says Michael.
During his 3-month experiment, Michael replaced his favorite coffee with lots of peppermint and chamomile tea.
About the effects of wine and other alcohol, he says:
“A small quantity of wine isn’t an issue, but when I’ve greater than two glasses, I’m extra prone to get up and fewer prone to get up [in the morning] feeling sharp. If caffeine messes with Gradual Wave Sleep, alcohol appears to mess with our REM sleep, once we do essentially the most dreaming.”
At the end of his research, Michael returned to his daily cup of caffeine. When he drank his first cup of coffee, after 3 months, he felt a bit psychedelic and euphoric.
“I think the word ‘addiction’ has a lot of moral baggage attached to it. As [Johns Hopkins researcher] Roland Griffiths told me, if you have a steady supply of something, you can afford it and it’s not interfering with your life, there’s nothing wrong with being addicted,” says Michael.