Like many other individuals, I enjoy my coffee. I am not addicted to caffeine, but it gives me the lift I need at the start of the day, to get through my work as efficiently as I can. However, there is a downside to drinking caffeine, and that is it can affect the quality of your sleep.

In short, sleep and caffeine are not a good combination and it can keep you awake at night. With this in mind, it make sense to drink tea and coffee in sensible amounts.

What I do, to avoid having too much caffeine in my bloodstream at bedtime, is take my last tea or coffee drink for that day, around midday. That then gives my body a long time to get rid of the caffeine, which should stop me from having caffeine insomnia at night.

Let me fill in a few gaps here, and tell you a bit about the effect of caffeine on the body. Caffeine is a drug, and just like any other drug, it can become addictive. The more you take, the more you want to take. Caffeine affects each of us in different ways. Generally the older you are, the more caffeine affects you.

Almost all the caffeine contained in a drink of tea or coffee will enter the bloodstream, and it does so quite quickly, usually within five minutes. Its effects are felt for up to three quarters of an hour.

Once the caffeine is in your blood stream, it takes anywhere between three and seven hours for half of it to be filtered out of the blood stream. The rest of it is gone by the following morning, by which time those who want the caffeine rush will be reaching for the coffee pot again.

If you suffer from any of the following complaints, caffeine can make the condition worse. Headache, depression, restlessness, tremors, heartburn and high blood pressure. The fact is that when you have just taken caffeine, you won't feel tired straight away.

Don't forget too, that caffeine is found in many other products and medicines, so it is prudent to check the label. Caffeine stays in the blood stream for several hours, so if getting to sleep fast is your priority at night, I would definitely think about controlling your caffeine intake .