If you think it’s useful to drink your coffee as soon as you wake up, think again. It would be counterproductive to consume caffeine less than an hour after waking up, while other times of the day are more advisable or, on the contrary, frankly contraindicated. It is well known that caffeine disrupts sleep cycles. This molecule contained in quantity in coffee is considered to be energizing. It is therefore mainly consumed in the morning by millions of people. But many health experts agree that you shouldn’t drink your coffee all the time. Your espresso can impact both positively and negatively on your circadian clock, that is, based on the 24-hour day-night cycle. So when you look at gaining your next subscription coffee, you should know exactly when the right time is to indulge. We all love a good cup of coffee, so it’s important to know how it can actually affect your health for the better.
Caffeine is useless when you wake up
No need to drink your coffee as soon as you wake up, Forbes magazine tells us. There is no need for caffeine at this time of the day, because upon waking up, the body produces a special stimulating hormone for a good hour after, known as cortisol. This would have the same effect as caffeine according to a researcher in the United States interviewed by the economic magazine. Drinking your coffee at this time would therefore create a stronger habituation to caffeine, reducing the energizing effect of the drink. This also changes the benefits that it has on your health.
Coffee, beyond its taste and antioxidant qualities, is also a good stimulant. The caffeine it contains is assimilated by the brain and activates certain neurons. It is therefore “wiser” to consume the coffee a little later, “between 9:30 am and 11:30 am for example to take over from cortisol”.
An ally against Alzheimer’s disease?
The question of the most opportune times to drink your coffee has never been studied by science and would be interesting from a medical point of view. Studies show, however, that certain times during the day are contraindicated to drink coffee. This is the case in the evening. It is better to avoid drinking coffee before sleeping because “caffeine has a disturbing impact on sleep when taken close to bedtime” according to studies.
Public health recommendations indicate that an adult should not exceed 400 milligrams of caffeine per day. One espresso is roughly 60 milligrams of caffeine. There is therefore a certain margin to drink several coffees in a day. Besides relieving headaches, a positive tendency for caffeine to delay Alzheimer’s disease has been observed. Based on the potential benefits of this molecule contained in coffee, it is probable that the intake of caffeine at certain times of the day has positive effects on the circadian cycle. Nevertheless, from a research perspective, there is still no evidence that it is better to drink your coffee at certain times of the day rather than others.