Mornings are linked to better heart health and longer lifespans

• The time of day you drink coffee may influence your risk of death, especially from cardiovascular disease.
• People who drink coffee primarily in the morning, rather than throughout the day, had a lower risk of death than those who don't drink coffee, according to a new study.
• It's unclear why drinking coffee in the morning appears to have significant benefits for heart health. Experts say drinking coffee late in the day can disrupt your sleep patterns.

In case you needed another reason to start your day with coffee, people who drink a cup of coffee in the morning have a lower risk of death from coffee. cardiovascular disease And people who drink coffee all day long or don't drink coffee at all have a lower overall risk of death.

The new study was published in the journal Jan. 8. european heart journalis the first study to examine whether patterns of coffee consumption and the length of time people drink it influence mortality rates.

Research has frequently focused on intake. “How many cups is too much?” However, little is known about how intake patterns affect health.

This research Lu Qi, MD; HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and Professor at Tulane University's Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine presents compelling data to help you consider not just how much coffee you consume, but when you consume it. We provide.

“We show that drinking coffee in the morning has a better association with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality than drinking coffee throughout the day,” Chee told Healthline.

This observational study included more than 40,000 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and 1,463 adults from the Women's and Men's Lifestyle Validation Study.

Both surveys include a variety of health and lifestyle data for U.S. adults, including questions about coffee and beverages. Caffeine intake.

Almost half of the participants (48%) were non-coffee drinkers, while the remaining participants were divided into two groups based on their coffee consumption patterns. About a third of the participants were “morning” coffee drinkers, meaning they drank almost all their coffee before noon and very little in the afternoon or evening.

The second group, “all-dayers” (16% of participants), preferred to drink coffee throughout the day and into the evening.

Only the group that drank coffee in the morning showed a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease-related death.

Over a nearly 10-year follow-up period, researchers found that people who drank coffee in the morning had a significantly lower risk of both all-cause and cardiovascular disease-related death than those who didn't drink coffee. did.

Compared to non-coffee drinkers, morning coffee drinkers had a 16% lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 31% lower risk of cardiovascular disease-related death. People who drank coffee throughout the day did not have a reduced risk of death.

“The body has a circadian cycle where it wakes up, becomes active, relaxes, and eventually goes to sleep. Your morning coffee follows this cycle, but if you keep drinking it, especially late in the afternoon, it can disrupt this cycle and cause you to sleep. is hindered.” Dr. Thomas Luscher, He is a consultant cardiologist and head of research, education and development at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals in the UK, explained to Healthline. Luscher wrote: Editorial accompanying research.

The amount of coffee you consume in the morning also affects your heart health.

People who drank moderate or large amounts of coffee in the morning (2-3 cups or more) had a greater reduction in their risk of disease-related death. The risk was smaller for people who drank light coffee in the morning (less than one cup).

The researchers also looked at cancer-related mortality risk and found no association between either intake pattern.

Despite the compelling findings, this study has several limitations.

For example, morning coffee drinkers were primarily white with higher household incomes, making it difficult to generalize the findings to a more diverse population.

Dr. Abha Khandelwal, A professor of cardiology at Stanford University who was not involved in the study noted that the study's value is limited because it is observational and self-reported data.

“I don't think the timing of caffeine intake is an important factor in reducing mortality risk… There is no strong, rigorous scientific evidence. At most there is an association with coffee intake. ” she told Healthline.

The mechanism of why coffee drinking time affects mortality is also not clear, and the study authors acknowledged that it was outside the scope of the current study. However, there are clear areas to explore.

“Drinking coffee late can interfere with sleep and hormonal balance. melatoninaffect the body circadian rhythm“This may partially explain our observations,” Chee said.

Therefore, if you are a heavy coffee drinker, try to limit your coffee intake in the afternoon and evening.

“If you drink more than one cup a day, it's best to drink it only in the morning,” Qi says.

Meanwhile, Khandelwal told Healthline that it is too early to make recommendations based on this study.

“While I would say that if you are a coffee drinker, consider limiting your coffee intake to the morning hours, this study was not designed to speak to cause-and-effect relationships. It's not purpose-built either. I think we need to do more in a more scientifically rigorous way to make bold statements to change behavior,” she said.

Coffee has been shown to have a wide range of health benefits, from the brain to the heart.

However, little research has been done on how the time of day you drink coffee affects these benefits.

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers found that people who drank coffee in the morning, rather than throughout the day, had a lower risk of death and cardiovascular disease-related death.