Most of us get up in the morning and head straight for the kettle to make a cup of tea or coffee to get that 'pick me up' that gets us going and that's fine. But if you tend to drink more tea, coffee or other caffeinated beverages such as cola throughout the day it could actually be making you feel more tired and sluggish rather than the opposite, meaning that you are more likely to crave sugary snacks (adding more calories to your diet) and more caffeine. Having sugar in your drinks will make it worse causing a blood sugar spike followed by a sudden crash, again making you feel more tired and craving more.

So why does caffeine make you tired?

When you drink caffeine it has a diuretic effect on your body, meaning that it makes you urinate more often causing you to become dehydrated. Here's how the cycle goes:-

You drink a cup of coffee, tea or other caffeinated drink and soon afterwards need to use the bathroom.
When you go to the bathroom, your body loses water.
When your body loses water, your blood thickens.
When your blood thickens, it moves more slowly through your arteries and veins.
As your blood slows down, it delivers less oxygen to your body.
Without as much oxygen, you become sluggish.
You may reach for more coffee to combat the sluggishness, thus starting the cycle again.

Because you’re drinking lots of caffeinated drinks, you likely aren’t drinking water to re-hydrate yourself. At least, you probably aren’t drinking as much as you should be.

Additionally, caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, which further compounds the problem. Caffeine makes your blood vessels get narrower. As they narrow, it only becomes more difficult for your thickening blood to flow through them.

WHAT TO DO

If you are finding that you are feeling tired most days and are drinking a lot of caffeinated drinks during the day try swapping to de-caffinated versions or water and see how you feel over a few weeks to see if it helps. You may also find that you have less cravings for high calorie sugary snacks too, which will help if you are trying to shift a few pounds.

If you find that you suffer from headaches when you reduce your caffeine consumption, reduce it more slowly.