There’s probably nothing more undesirable than a sleepy soldier. So the Army has funded a study to find out how to achieve maximum wakefulness using caffeine. And you thought YOU needed your morning jolt of java!

The purpose of the new study is to determine the optimal balance between the amount of caffeine and the time it’s consumed. In other words: If you want to stay awake, how much coffee should you drink and when?

The study developed an algorithm to find the answers. Data from four past caffeine/sleep studies went into a mathematical model that accurately predicts the effects of sleep/wake schedules and caffeine consumption on simple tasks.

According to bigthink.com, the study found that by using the algorithm to determine when and how much caffeine a subject should consume, “we can improve alertness by up to 64 percent, while consuming the same total amount of caffeine.” Similarly, if the goal is to reduce caffeine consumption, the study determined how to reduce caffeine by 65% while maintaining the same level of alertness. In addition to soldiers, this information could be particularly useful to truck drivers, nurses, physicians, and most shift workers.

As many as 90 percent of Americans consume some form of caffeine each day. If you’re among them, maybe it’s the taste. Maybe it’s the socializing at your favorite coffee shop. Or just maybe you’re looking to defeat the sleepy sluggish feeling most of us feel at some time during the day…like mid-afternoon while at a meeting or in a traffic jam. If you are a baby boomer, there is a very good chance you do consume coffee every day. It just so happens the National Coffee Association (NCA) tracks coffee consumption by generation, and coffee consumption is highest among older consumers. The NCA reports 78% of millennials have consumed coffee within the last year, compared to 85% of those in Generation X, 86% of baby boomers, and 90% of more mature consumers. The breakdown for daily consumption was 47% for millennials, 68% for Generation X, 72% for baby boomers, and 80% for more mature consumers.

While there’s no universal recommendation coming from the study, a simplified version of the algorithm has been developed for general use. We’re not recommending or endorsing it, but if you’re interested, you can find out more here, 2B-Alert app. The tool essentially predicts the alertness of an "average" individual as a function of sleep/wake schedule, caffeine consumption, and time of day. We should note the Army does intend to license this technology.

Here is an important disclaimer about the tool from the Biotechnology High Performance Computing Software Applications Institute (BHSAI): The 2B-Alert Web tool is for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be used or relied upon to predict the performance of any specific individual or the likelihood of errors or accidents by any specific individual or group of individuals.