After *this many* hours, coffee is totally ineffective

That’s right, folks. Television has been lying to us for years.

According to a new study from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (via Women’s Health) drinking coffee for the first two days can help to give you that much needed caffeine boost, but by the third day, it’s totally ineffective.

The research scientists proved this to be true after testing a group of forty-eight study participants in a double-blind survey. All adults were on an extreme sleep schedule of five hours per night for five days in a row. At random, some participants were given a 400mg serving of caffeine, while others were only given a placebo. Blood samples and a cycle of tests later, the scientists found that during the first two trial days participants given the caffeine sample were definitely more alert, but by the third day they were drooling at the mouth just like their placebo-taking buddies.

Welp. There you have it. The only way to truly recover from sleep deprivation is to… wait for it… Get sleep. Doctors recommend that we have between 7-8 hours of good sleep per night. It’s okay to pull all-nighters every once in a while — just try not to make it a habit. Because, by the third day…