Does it matter when you drink your coffee?
According to a US study published in the European Heart Journal, people who drink coffee in the morning have a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a lower overall mortality risk compared with those who drink coffee throughout the day.
To find out if the timing of coffee intake affects heart health, the researchers used data from over 40,725 adults who provided information about their food and drink consumption. About 36 per cent of the participants were morning coffee drinkers, 16 per cent drank coffee throughout the day and 48 per cent did not drink coffee.
During an average follow up of ten years, 4,295 people died, including 1,268 from cardiovascular diseases and 934 from cancer. Morning coffee drinkers were 16 per cent less likely to die of any cause and 31 per cent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease compared with non-coffee drinkers. These benefits held true regardless of how much coffee was consumed, whether it was one cup or more than three.
However, all-day coffee drinkers did not experience any such risk reduction.
Why does timing matter? One possible explanation is that consuming coffee in the afternoon or evening may disrupt circadian rhythms and interfere with hormone levels, such as melatonin. This could, in turn, lead to changes in cardiovascular risk factors, including increased inflammation and higher blood pressure.
