Don't you think it is about time you left the pot and the bottle alone? Both are highly addictive, and harmful to your health. If you think that I am talking about drugs, you are mistaken. While those are certainly harmful to you, many people do not realize just how bad coffee and soda can be in the long run.

What you have to remember is that coffee and soda contain caffeine, which actually is a drug itself. Caffeine is classified in two different drug categories: a stimulant and a diuretic. So, when you are having trouble falling asleep at night, consider how much of this substance you have consumed. You are most likely in for a night of restlessness and several trips to the bathroom, depending on how much you had to drink.

Many people think that if they do not consume a caffeinated beverage close to bedtime, this will prevent them from experiencing its effects when they are ready to turn in for the night. But, caffeine is much more powerful than that. The effects take awhile to wear off, and when they do, they seem to cause your body to crash and burn.

Drinking too much coffee and soda causes dopamine levels in the brain to rise significantly, and somewhat abnormally. This creates a feeling of excitement, similar to that of amphetamines. This causes a natural high that forces the brain to want to be awake even when the rest of the body says you are tired. This would in turn prevent you from getting adequate rest, because you have to wait until your brain gets the signal to shut down. This signal is further stifled because caffeine tries to look like adenosine to the brain. Adenosine is what aids in helping the nerve cells calm down and relax at bedtime, so this trickery by the enemy caffeine does not make for a restful night.

The bottom line is that drinking too much coffee or soda is not the best way to go about trying to sleep for eight hours a night.

Your body should work like clockwork, and something as disruptive as a stimulant will certainly prevent your body from truly feeling at rest. It will constantly be running like a refrigerator until it can finally unwind from this high.

If you are consuming excessive amounts of caffeine, not only is that damaging in and of itself, but you are preventing another healthy behavior, which is getting adequate sleep. Your organs are already working hard enough to try to rid the body of this stimulant, and if you remain up for all or part of the night, the body is in trouble. It will never have the opportunity to refresh the cells and revitalize the organs, which is naturally done when the body is at rest.

So kick those cans to the curb and stomp those grounds, because your health should not be compromised just for a little caffeine high. Rather than have the body work overtime, picture yourself comfortable, relaxed and ready for bed when YOU say you should be.