Fact: Caffeine Can Keep You Up at Night

About an hour after drinking caffeine you feel the peak of its effects, but it can take longer to taper off. “The half-life of caffeine, or the time required for the body to eliminate half the caffeine from your body, averages from four to five hours,” says Andrea Giancoli, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “That means you could have caffeine in your body at bedtime when it still may have a stimulating effect.” While a cup or two of coffee in the morning probably won’t affect your sleep, try eliminating caffeine after lunch if you have problems falling asleep.