How much Caffeine does my drink have?

Coffee isn’t the only form of caffeine we consume on a daily basis. Caffeine acts as a stimulant and keeps one awake by suppressing the activity of Adenosine. Adenosine is a neurotransmitter that induces sleep. Caffeine acts by blocking the receptors, adenosine connects to. Once a source of caffeine is consumed, it usually stays in the body for over 6 hours, i.e. the half life of caffeine is 6-8 hours. It wouldn’t be surprising if someone had a beverage that contained caffeine and found it difficult to fall asleep that night. If it becomes a regular habit, then it could definitely lead to chronic insomnia.

As a sleep specialist, I have noticed that the most common form of caffeine consumed in the wee hours of the day, is soda. So here is a list of caffeinated beverages with a break down of amount of caffeine in them. As a benchmark comparison, an average cup of coffee has about 100mg of caffeine.

Since we may also snack on chocolates around dinner time, A Hershey’s milk chocolate bar has around 9mg of caffeine.

Photo by Igor Haritanovich from Pexels