# Why does hot cocoa make me tired?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hot-cocoa-make-me-tired/610947>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 28, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hot-cocoa-make-me-tired/610947 "2012-01-28T03:23:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hot-cocoa-make-me-tired/610947/1 "2012-01-28T03:23:45Z")

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Caffeine is supposed to give one a jolt of energy, correct? So then why does this delicious hot cocoa always make me sleepy?

A completely unrelated question: What are corn syrup solids? I saw that ingredient on a food I was eating earlier and it sparked my interest.

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**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hot-cocoa-make-me-tired/610947/2 "2012-01-28T03:38:56Z")

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I don’t think hot cocoa has much caffeine in it. Of course, caffeine content is the one thing that they do not have to put on the label (Why not?) so I don’t know how much it has, but I’m sure it’s much less than coffee or tea. What cocoa does contain is warm milk, which is a famous folk remedy to help people fall asleep.

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**Author:** ![kjbrasda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/74df32/32.png) [@kjbrasda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjbrasda)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hot-cocoa-make-me-tired/610947/3 "2012-01-28T03:47:26Z")

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It’s more the warmth than anything else. Even warm milk, it’s more the warmth than the milk.  
Any low/no caffeine warm drink will probably have the same effect.

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**Author:** ![Mornac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mornac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mornac)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hot-cocoa-make-me-tired/610947/4 "2012-01-28T03:49:09Z")

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> [@Tamex](#):
>
> What cocoa does contain is warm milk, which is a famous folk remedy to help people fall asleep.

–I think _Tryptophan_ figures in here if I’m not mistaken. In any case, the larger question is, why do I get heartburn from the hot chocolate that comes out of those little envelopes?

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**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-hot-cocoa-make-me-tired/610947/5 "2012-01-28T04:03:14Z")

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Cocoa powder contains theobromine, a relative of caffeine and also a stimulant. [Theobromine - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobromine)