Best Time To Drink Coffee, Coffee & Health
- tidbitsfromemily
- Dec 15, 2014
- 4 min read
Today I will be discussing when is the best time to drink coffee, and the relationship between coffee and health and what research says about it. After all, if you’re obsessed with coffee like me (speaking of coffee, a dark coconut mocha from Chromatic sounds absolutely wonderful right now), it’s probably a good idea to know what coffee does for your health, don’t you agree? In this post, I will be sharing knowledge and facts that I have researched online. Let’s dive into it!
I came across this fascinating article by Steven Miller, a Ph.D. candidate at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences where he discusses when is the best time to drink coffee. Miller explains that it has to do with a concept termed chronopharmacology, “the study of the interaction of biological rhythms and drug action” (1).
One of the most significant biological rhythms in our bodies is our circadian clock, which is roughly a 24-hour hormonal cycle of changes in our physical and behavioral state. For us humans, this cycle is typically in accordance to our surroundings and environment so that our sleep-wake cycle correlates with the day-night cycle. Within this biological rhythm, a hormone called cortisol is produced which makes us feel alert and awake. On average, cortisol production peaks between 8am and 9am, meaning our bodies are naturally alert or “caffeinated” sort to speak during this time of the day. This peak also occurs between 12am to 1pm and again 5:30pm to 6:30pm.
If we consume coffee (caffeine) at the same time as cortisol production peak periods, the effects of caffeine will be significantly reduced because you are already experiencing natural alertness and wakefulness. As a result, you will gradually build a tolerance to caffeine and its effects! So, the next time you find yourself craving a cup of coffee to give you that extra boost, try not to drink it while your cortisol levels are peaking and instead drink it after your cortisol levels have dropped. Such drops, on average, occur between 9:30am to 11:30am and 1:30pm to 5:00pm.
In a nutshell:
8am – 9am = Cortisol production peak, don’t drink coffee!
9:30am – 11:30am = Cortisol level drops, coffee time!
12am – 1pm = Cortisol production peak, don’t drink coffee!
1:30pm – 5:00pm = Cortisol level drops, coffee time!
5:30pm – 6:30pm = Cortisol production peak, don’t drink coffee!
Now that you know what has scientifically been proven to be the best time to consume coffee, let’s now discuss the relationship between coffee and health and what research says about it!
Coffee has always been believed to have potential health benefits. While this has not yet been proven to be true or false, Dr. Rob van Dam, Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, states that in accordance to the results of Harvard School of Public Health’s Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and Nurses’ Health Study which investigated the relationship between the consumption of coffee and overall mortality of 130,000 study volunteers for a period of 18 to 24 years by tracking participants diet and lifestyle, including that of coffee consumption and who died during that time, the studies found there to be no relationship between the consumption of coffee and the increased risk of death from any cause, including that of cancer and cardiovascular disease (2).
In fact, even participants who drank up to six cups of coffee a day were not found to have an increased risk of disease or death. Amazing right? I was quite surprised myself. But it is important to note that these studies were based on the consumption of black coffee—coffee with miniature amounts of milk and/or sugar—and definitely not those popular sugary high calorie coffeehouse drinks served in places like Starbucks! The coffee “standard” that was used in this study—and in the majority of coffee studies, in general—was an 8oz cup with 100 mg of caffeine. So, coffee consumption (black coffee, that is) is currently not linked to any deathly or deleterious health effects…yet.
That being said, however, Dr. Rob van Dam discusses that while there is currently no “upper limit” for the amount of coffee one should drink a day, it is imperative that coffee drinkers watch over their own health (2). For example, if you have sleeping problems, restlessness, and/or stress amongst other problems, you might not want to hear this, but you may very much be drinking too much coffee. But going back to Dr. Rob van Dam’s studies, so far the effects of coffee drinking in relation to health and mortality show that there are no detrimental effects, even for individuals drinking up to 6 cups a day.
Another common question that Dr. Rob van Dam discussed in his article was whether or not coffee drinking is beneficial. He explains that “drinking coffee can lead to very diverse health outcomes” so the results vary amongst individuals (2). However, studies have suggested that coffee drinking may decrease the chances of type II diabetes, liver cancer, and Parkinson’s disease, amongst other diseases, but further research needs to be conducted.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Feel free to ask any questions and/or let me know if anything was confusing or unclear. Have a wonderful day!
(1) Miller, Steven. “The Best Time For Your Coffee.” Blogspot. Blogspot, 23 October 2013. Web. 3 September 2014. .
(2) Harvard School of Public Health. “Ask the Expert: Coffee and Health.” Harvard School of Public Health. The President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2014. Web. 3 September 2014. .
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