Drinking coffee in the morning, rather than throughout the day, may protect against cardiovascular disease, according to an analysis of more than 40,000 adults.
Every morning, millions of people around the world start their routine with a cup of coffee. Beyond being a daily ritual, this habit could be linked to a longer life expectancy, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal.
The research, led by Tulane University (United States), analyzed data from 40,725 adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2018.
Participants were classified into three groups: those who drank coffee before noon (36%), those who drank it throughout the day (16%), and those who did not consume it at all (48%).
The findings showed that morning coffee was associated with a 31% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a 16% lower risk of overall mortality, compared to non-coffee drinkers. However, that benefit was not seen in those who spread their coffee intake throughout the day.
The research team, led by Professor Lu Qi, sought to determine whether the timing of coffee consumption influenced heart health.
“We don’t typically provide advice on what time to drink coffee in our dietary guidelines, but we may want to consider it in the future,” Qi said in a statement.
The study also details that both moderate drinkers (two to three cups) and those who exceeded that amount obtained benefits, while the impact was less for those who drank one cup or less.
Although scientists haven’t determined the exact cause of this relationship, they suggested a possible explanation: drinking coffee in the afternoon or evening could disrupt circadian rhythms and reduce levels of melatonin, a key hormone for sleep.
This, in turn, would affect factors such as blood pressure and inflammation, both of which are related to cardiovascular risk.
The analysis included dietary questionnaires and, in a subgroup of 1,463 people, detailed records of everything consumed for a week. Using this information, the researchers compared habits with death records over a follow-up period of up to ten years.
In an accompanying editorial, Thomas Lüscher of the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals in London agreed that coffee consumed later in the day may interfere with sleep and sympathetic activity in the body, which may help explain why the benefits are concentrated in morning consumption.
Experts caution, however, that further studies and clinical trials are needed to confirm the results and explore whether changing coffee time could become a preventative health strategy.
+ There are no comments
Add yours