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Researchers have discovered that a lifetime of daily coffees may shrink a part of the brain that controls sleep patterns, this may be the reason why some adults struggle to sleep. Brain scans carried out by researchers at Seoul University in South Korea found moderate to heavy consumers – those drinking two cups a day for 30 years or more had smaller pineal glands than those who rarely drank coffee.
The pineal gland is a pea-sized organ in the middle of the brain that releases a hormone-melatonin when it is time for the body to rest and sleep, the smaller the gland is, the less melatonin it produces. Caffeine is a short-term stimulant which could have long-term effects on the brain. Researchers monitored 162 healthy adults them how much coffee they drank and how long they slept.
They performed MRI brain scans to measure the volume of the pineal gland and that coffee-lovers had pineal glands 20 per cent smaller than non-drinkers and experienced more problems sleeping. Years of daily coffee drinking could be harming the brain and the quality of sleep later in life.