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A group of Army researchers has developed an algorithm that can tell how much coffee you should drink and when you should drink it for maximum alertness. The new algorithm is based on people’s weight, sex, and sleep schedules.
Researchers claim that drinking coffee based on the newly discovered algorithm could boost productivity by up to 64% without raising the daily intake of caffeine. According to the algorithm, you need more coffee at one point in the day and less coffee later in the day.
Study authors also claim that their dosing schedule can trim caffeine consumption by 65% without sacrificing performance at work. Each dosing schedule is tailored at the individual level to meet the desired performance at the desired time.
Senior researcher Jaques Reifman said that the algorithm can help sleep-deprived students that need to pass an exam drink the optimal amount of coffee to stay alert during the test. Reifman works at the Maryland-based U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.
The Timing of Drinking Coffee Can Influence Performance
The technology has been integrated into a smartphone app and a web browser tool dubbed 2B-Alert that can tell each person how to reach optimal alertness based on coffee consumption and sleep patterns. The smartphone app is more complex than the web tool as it can learn more about the users and their caffeine consumption over time.
So far, the app cannot tell people how much coffee to drink and when to drink it because the data is still being tested on U.S. soldiers. The tool is designed to help the military achieve maximum performance, but it could greatly benefit the general public. Students, air traffic controllers, and shift workers can benefit from the app too.
Study authors underlined that the effectiveness of coffee or any caffeinated beverage greatly depends on the time you consume it. For instance, a cup of java early in the morning may not be enough to keep a sleep-deprived person alert throughout the day.
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Rebecca McGhee
Rebecca McGhee is a valuable contributor for several publications and online platforms. Having graduates with a degree in Computer Science, her interest lies mostly in this area. Yet, she finds any tech-related topic or scientific topic is a challenge worth meeting. She enjoys turning her own research projects in worthy contributions that reach the large public. And mostly, she is grateful for all the feedback she receives from readers, as she believes it aids her in permanently improving her style of writing, beyond the scientific style she is accustomed to.
