As much as we love the taste of coffee, tea and other caffeinated beverages, there are times we’re not drinking them for the taste, but for the jolt we need them to give us. When you’re dragging on a Monday morning or can’t stop yawning during the afternoon slump, try one of these science-backed ways to boost the effects of caffeine.
- Drink it before your workout- Caffeine is a cheap, widely available performance-enhancing drug, so try it before exercising to help motivate and push you.
- Try coffee before a nap- Sounds crazy, but when you time it right, caffeine can help your midday snooze be more effective. It’s called a caffeine nap, where you drink a cup of coffee before a quick 20 minute nap, then you get all the brain-boosting benefits of a nap and wake up energized when the caffeine kicks in.
- Adjust tea steeping for more or less caffeine- You can dial the caffeine content up or down depending on how long you leave the tea bag in the water.
- Choose the right coffee beans- The roast of coffee doesn’t really matter when it comes to the amount of caffeine in your brew, but the type of beans you use does. If you’re looking for the strong stuff, go for Robusta, which has twice the caffeine content of Arabica beans.
- Get the timing right - Many of us reach for coffee before we can function properly in the morning, but it turns out the best time to drink your first cup isn’t when you wake up. Science says the most effective time to have a cup of coffee is between 9:30 and 11:30 in the morning, which is also when we start to feel that first lull in the day.
Source: Lifehacker