Partial to an afternoon coffee hit? It could be time to change your habit. New research suggests people who drink coffee in the morning have a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a lower overall mortality risk compared to all-day coffee drinkers.
The study, published in the European Heart Journal, included 40,725 adults taking part in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2018.
Participants were asked about all the food and drink they consumed on at least one day, including whether they drank coffee, how much, and when. It also included a sub-group of 1463 people who were asked to complete a detailed food and drink diary for a full week.
Researchers were able to link this information with records of deaths and cause of death over a period of nine to 10 years.
Around 36 per cent of people in the study were morning coffee drinkers (they primarily drank coffee before midday), 16 per cent of people drank coffee throughout the day (morning, afternoon, and evening) and 48 per cent were not coffee drinkers.
Compared with people who did not drink coffee, morning coffee drinkers were 16 per cent less likely to die of any cause and 31 per cent less likely to die of cardiovascular disease. However, there was no reduction in risk for all-day coffee drinkers compared to non-coffee drinkers.
Morning coffee drinkers benefitted from the lower risks whether they were moderate drinkers (two to three cups) or heavy drinkers (more than three cups). Light morning drinkers (one cup or less) benefitted from a smaller decrease in risk.
Lead Researcher Dr Lu Qi says this is the first study testing coffee drinking timing patterns and health outcomes.
“Our findings indicate that it’s not just whether you drink coffee or how much you drink, but the time of day when you drink coffee that’s important. We don’t typically give advice about timing in our dietary guidance, but perhaps we should be thinking about this in the future,” he says.
Dr Qi adds that the study doesn’t explain why 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 may disrupt circadian rhythms and levels of hormones such as melatonin. This, in turn, leads to changes in cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and blood pressure,” he says.
