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Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

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Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#41

Post by yor »

codewright wrote: post #35

"Turbo shots" or "red eyes" in your coffee are a placebo btw. Espresso has a lower concentration of caffeine than standard drip. So by putting a "turbo shot" in your cup, you're actually lowering the caffeine concentration. Wants to be hyper-rational and metric-aware about his sleep but didn't know anything about caffeine? Okay.

I think you're thinking of the difference between robusta and arabica beans. Arabica has less caffeine than robusta, and -- at least in America -- more espresso roasts are arabica.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#42

Post by guizzy »

codewright wrote: post #35

"Turbo shots" or "red eyes" in your coffee are a placebo btw. Espresso has a lower concentration of caffeine than standard drip. So by putting a "turbo shot" in your cup, you're actually lowering the caffeine concentration. Wants to be hyper-rational and metric-aware about his sleep but didn't know anything about caffeine? Okay.

Espresso has a lower volume of caffeine, but it definitely has a higher concentration.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/caffeine/AN01211/METHOD=prin...

Espresso, restaurant-style 1 oz. (30 mL) 40-75 mg

Generic brewed 8 oz. (240 mL) 95-200 mg

The brewed coffee thus has between 11.9 mg and 25 mg of caffeine per oz.

If you added a shot of espresso (let's assume the weakest one at 40 mg of caffeine) to an 8 oz of very strong coffee (at 200 mg of caffeine), you'd still be increasing the concentration to ~26.7 mg/oz.

And that's stretching the limits of these calculations; a 200 mg 8 oz coffee is crazy strong, amounting to two and a half cans of Red Bull.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#43

Post by wonnage »

codewright wrote: post #35

"Turbo shots" or "red eyes" in your coffee are a placebo btw. Espresso has a lower concentration of caffeine than standard drip. So by putting a "turbo shot" in your cup, you're actually lowering the caffeine concentration. Wants to be hyper-rational and metric-aware about his sleep but didn't know anything about caffeine? Okay.

Espresso has a higher concentration of caffeine. Most espresso drinks are mixed with a ton of milk, so lattes, etc. do end up being less concentrated than drip. But dropping a shot of espresso in your coffee will up the caffeine concentration slightly.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#44

Post by dpeck »

mlwarren wrote: post #30

OP mentions that earbuds (plugs) are one of the best things he's done to improve sleep. Has anyone out there reviewed a few different brands of earplugs? I've used Hearos Ultimate Softness but I'm reading that there are better plugs out there. It looks like the best consumer grade plugs have a NRR of 33. Anyone have suggestions or insight into this?

Completely anecdotal, but when we had our child I did night shifts, and wife decided to use plugs to make sure she'd get enough sleep to be ready to go for the morning.

She settled in on the soft silicone variety, like these http://www.amazon.com/Macks-Pillow-Silicone-Earplugs-Value/d... but she gets the pharmacy or grocery store brand. They let in enough noise that you're not completely isolated, but dampen enough that you're able to sleep through usual noise like spouse snoring, dogs waking up to stretch/scratch/re-position, baby gurgling over the monitor, etc.

Edit: And they're much much more comfortable than the foam varieties tried.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#46

Post by ffn »

Really interesting read... but out of curiosity, how does exercise play into the sleep schedule? In order to maintain a good sleep rhythm, when is latest one should exercise? Also I'd like to know where you get your supposedly free stopwatches.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#47

Post by [deleted] »

maroun wrote: post #4
treeface wrote: post #2

This post seems like one big, long unsubstantiated bunch of app spam for "zeo". I don't think scientists understand the "fact retention" mechanism as well as OP claims, for instance. It's fairly clear that sleep is important, but there's a lot of unsourced information here that's presented as fact.

Thanks for your feedback! I worked for Zeo a year ago, however they've since shut down so I have no affiliation to them. I'll be sure to go in add the relevant sources.

[deleted]

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#48

Post by gerjomarty »

codewright wrote: post #35

"Turbo shots" or "red eyes" in your coffee are a placebo btw. Espresso has a lower concentration of caffeine than standard drip. So by putting a "turbo shot" in your cup, you're actually lowering the caffeine concentration. Wants to be hyper-rational and metric-aware about his sleep but didn't know anything about caffeine? Okay.

I hear a lot about cutting caffeine after 3pm to have it not affect your sleep, but I generally assume people are talking about coffee when they mention this time. I care more about when I should stop drinking tea, which apparently contains less caffeine.

Can I just halve the time required if tea has half the caffeine (let's say)?

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#49

Post by dllthomas »

Consistency is key, I've heard time and again and my own experience seems to support (FWIW).

However, perfect consistency is hard to maintain. Even if one avoids the late parties and whatnot, eventually emergencies get in the way or illness comes along and increases the amount of sleep required.

My question is, when consistency must falter, what piece is most important? Going to bed at the same time, getting up at the same time, getting the same amount of sleep, or getting at least some particular amount of sleep? The article here claims it is not the last.

Re: Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

#50

Post by larrys »

nkohari wrote: post #27
treeface wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure thing. I don't mean to imply that you are intentionally misguiding. Your general advice (i.e. sleep enough and do it consistently) is good and the post was fairly well-written. Cheers, good sir.

I'm not picking on you specifically, but I think this is an example of a very common problem on HN. Someone posts a very harshly-worded negative comment. Then the OP responds to it, and the commenter walks back their comment and praises the post. It seems like once people realize they're communicating with other real-life human beings, they are much more civil. Couldn't we try to consider that ahead of time, and avoi…

"but I think this is an example of a very common problem on HN"

In the true spirit of HN let me 2nd what you are saying and wonder why the parent was so quick to back off what he said.

Although the OP has said he will provide links he also said this:

"I walked into the office on January 9th and suddenly had access to some of the most knowledgeable people on sleep out there."

So who are these people and what makes them so knowledgeable about sleep exactly?

I guess the real question is how do you say this "nicer":

'This post seems like one big, long unsubstantiated bunch of app spam for "zeo"'

maybe:

'I'd like some of the claims here substantiated. On the surface it appears to me that this well written post is simply app spam for "zeo"'

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