The dilemma often arises whether to drink coffee early in the morning or not. A new European study has a possible explanation for this.
While coffee offers several health benefits, the best time to drink the hot beverage is in the morning, says a study published Wednesday. The research, published in the European Heart Journal, showed that people who drink coffee in the morning have a lower risk of dying from heart disease. They also have a lower risk of overall mortality compared to people who drink coffee throughout the day.
Researchers at Tulane University in the United States showed that those who drank coffee in the morning were 16 percent less likely to die from any cause and 31 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
However, no risk reduction was found in people who drank coffee all day, compared to those who did not drink it.
“This is the first study to test coffee consumption patterns and health outcomes. Our findings indicate that what matters is not just whether or how much you drink coffee, but also what time of day you drink it,” said Dr. Lu Qi, a professor at Tulane.
In the study, researchers analyzed data from 40,725 adults between 1999 and 2018.
As part of the study, participants were asked about all the foods and drinks they consumed on at least one day, including whether, how much, and when they drank coffee. It also included a subgroup of 1,463 people who were asked to complete a detailed food and drink diary for a full week.
The team linked the information to records of deaths and causes of death over nine to ten years.
More than one in three people in the study drank coffee in the morning (mostly drinking coffee before noon) and less than one in four drank coffee throughout the day (morning, afternoon and evening). These were compared to 48 percent of non-coffee drinkers.
Morning coffee drinkers benefited from the lowest risks, whether they were moderate drinkers (two to three cups) or heavy drinkers (more than three cups). The researchers said light morning drinkers (one cup or less) benefited from a smaller decrease in risk.
However, the study does not provide the mechanism behind how drinking coffee in the morning reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
“A possible explanation is that consuming coffee in the afternoon or evening can alter circadian rhythms and the levels of hormones such as melatonin. This, in turn, leads to changes in cardiovascular risk factors, such as inflammation and blood pressure,” Qi said, calling for more studies to validate the findings.
