According to a coffee legend, an Arabian shepherd named Kaldi found his goats dancing joyously around a dark green leafed shrub with bright red cherries in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Kaldi soon determined that it was the bright red cherries on the shrub that were causing the peculiar euphoria and after trying the cherries himself, he learned of their powerful effect. The stimulating effect was then exploited by monks at a local monastery to stay awake during extended hours of prayer and distributed to other monasteries around the world. Coffee was born.

          Despite the appeal of such a legend, recent botanical evidence suggests a different coffee bean origin. This evidence indicates that the history of the coffee bean beagan on the plateaus of central Ethiopia and somehow must have been brought to Yemen where it was cultivated since the 6th century. Upon introduction of the first coffee houses in Cairo and Mecca coffee became a passion rather than just a stimulant.

 Many people compare the effects of shift work to permanent “jet lag” without the benefits of the holiday! In fact moving from a day to a night shift has a similar effect on the body to taking a flight across eight time zones. So arriving for a new work shift could give you a similar feeling to getting off a plane after a long haul flight travelling East.

Yet, for many people this is a regular experience and a problem faced by many night and shift workers. This is of concern to everyone but especially when it includes those on whom we rely to make critical decisions. The effects on human error are widespread with performance being impaired by as much as 10%.

It is not difficult to imagine where tired cargo handlers might send your luggage. However, the potential consequences in safety critical jobs can be catastrophic such as the horrific reality of the “Three mile Island” incident in 1979, when operator fatigue was identified as the cause of the disaster.

People are not naturally nocturnal animals. A person's normal body rhythm involves sleeping at night. If this rhythm is ignored, health, safety and efficiency may fall at some times of the day and particularly between midnight and 6 am. So many people working at night are working at the lowest point of their energy cycle.

Studies have shown that the effects of caffeine can combat symptoms experienced by many night workers such as the tendency to be less attentive and being slower to respond. Two large cups of coffee, containing a total of 200mg of caffeine, can reduce significantly the tendency to sleep and increase alertness and concentration and enable night shift workers to perform at levels similar to their colleagues working during the daytime. This effect can be sustained for 5 to 7 hours.

So next time you need to combat fatigue and lack of sleep, remember that a couple of cups of strong coffee will not only keep you alert and but also help you feel happier about working late!