A recent study suggested to limit drinking coffee to the morning hours. This review is based on a publication from the European Health Journal dated January 8, 2025. 40, 725 adults were part of this study that lasted for 9.8 years. Researchers classified coffee drinkers into morning, afternoon and evening consumers. The best outcome was for the morning coffee drinkers. They had a 16% lower risk of premature death from any cause compared to non-coffee drinkers. With respect to cardiovascular disease, they experienced a 31% lower risk of dying. The other coffee drinking groups had much less benefits than the morning group. Coffee drinkers who drank coffee all day long had no risk reduction at all. With regard to the morning coffee drinkers, it didn’t matter whether they consumed caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee. Both coffee types produced the same risk reduction.
Why does timing of coffee consumption matter?
Coffee contains antioxidants, which can neutralize the effects of inflammatory kinins. With respect to inflammation there is a circadian rhythm with the highest inflammatory kinins occurring in the morning. When inflammation is more or less controlled by the consumption of your morning coffee, less deadly diseases happen.
Confounding factors
The study relied on subjects recalling when they consumed coffee and how much. Recollections of dietary intake is always prone to biases. Variations in work shifts could also influence the results. Finally, it may be that the morning coffee consumers are the ones who have a healthier lifestyle. They may be exercising regularly and consume breakfasts with less or no ultra-processed foods.
Sleep disturbances
A previous study showed that heavy caffeinated coffee consumption in the afternoon or evening interferes with the circadian rhythm of melatonin production. This study revealed a 30% decrease in peak melatonin production at night-time compared to controls. This leads to sleep disturbances in the night. With morning coffee consumption, the body has time to eliminate the caffeine and normal sleep can occur by the time it is evening. This effect was confined to caffeinated coffee drinkers, consuming decaffeinated coffee did not produce this effect.
Effect of smoking
The cardiovascular risk reduction of the morning coffee consumers showed only significance in non-smokers. When smokers were analyzed, they did not show any risk reduction for mild, moderate or heavy coffee consumption.
Limit Drinking Coffee to the Morning Hours
Conclusion
Several studies showed that coffee consumption is beneficial to your health. Up to now no research group has analyzed whether the timing of when you drink coffee is important. But a new study examined this in detail. The researchers found that drinking coffee in the morning is the healthiest habit you can have. If you drink coffee all day or in the evening your sleep rhythm gets disturbed and you will not have the benefit of lower mortality rates. On the other hand, the morning coffee drinkers had a 16% lower risk of premature death from any cause. With respect to cardiovascular disease, they experienced a 31% lower risk of dying when compared to non-coffee drinkers.
