Recent research has unveiled the significance of consuming coffee in the morning, highlighting its potential benefits for cardiovascular health. The study indicates that individuals who drink coffee in the morning exhibit a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality compared to those consuming it throughout the day. This benefit extends to both moderate drinkers, consuming 2-3 cups, and heavy drinkers, who enjoy more than 3 cups daily. However, light drinkers who consume one cup or less see only minimal advantages.
The timing of coffee consumption appears to play a crucial role in maximizing its health benefits. Drinking coffee later in the day may disturb sleep due to its effect on circadian rhythms, potentially negating its positive impact on heart health. Researchers suggest that morning coffee consumption may strengthen these benefits by aligning with the body's natural rhythms and promoting better sleep patterns.
“Food eating and beverage drinking are key circadian time cues. While most nutrition studies focus on the quantity of dietary intakes, few investigate the circadian patterns of food/beverage intakes. Coffee affects sleeping and various circadian rhythm related hormones such as melatonin, cortisol, and inflammation markers, which are relevant to heart health.” — Lu Qi, MD, PhD
The study, a pioneering effort in understanding the impact of coffee drinking time on health outcomes beyond consumption quantity, suggests that morning coffee drinkers reap more cardiovascular benefits than those who indulge at other times. Prior research has shown coffee's potential to improve metabolism by lowering glucose and adverse lipid levels, factors closely tied to cardiovascular health.
“Prior evidence has also shown the benefits of coffee drinking on metabolism including metabolic factors related to cardiovascular health such as lowering glucose and adverse lipids. Our study indicates that drinking coffee in the morning may strengthen such benefits,” Qi added.
Despite these findings, researchers did not delve into the specifics of why morning coffee offers superior cardiovascular benefits compared to other times. The hypothesis suggests that drinking coffee later in the day disrupts circadian rhythms, leading to potential sleep disturbances and diminishing coffee's positive health effects.
“We don’t really understand why coffee drinking might be better in the morning,” he continued. “It actually may be that the health benefits of coffee are negated by the negative consequences of drinking coffee at other times of the day, such as the afternoon or evening, in the sense that coffee drinking at those later times would be more likely to disrupt the body’s natural rhythms, what we call circadian rhythms, and potentially even lead to sleep disturbances.” — Cheng-Han Chen, MD
The research highlights that for moderate and heavy drinkers, morning coffee is particularly beneficial. The findings indicate a need for further exploration into how aligning coffee consumption with natural body rhythms can optimize health outcomes.
“Our data indicates that drinking coffee in [the] morning only may strengthen the beneficial effects; while late drinking may minimize the benefits. Our results indicate that drinking in the morning is particularly beneficial for moderate and heavy drinkers (2 or more cups),” Qi said.
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