Coffee reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes – but only if you drink it in the morning.
Research suggests that when you enjoy an espresso or flat white is more important to your health than how much you drink.
Drinking between one and more cups before midday has been shown to reduce the risk of heart and circulatory diseases by 31 percent compared to those who drink it throughout the day.
Drinking coffee is linked to better heart health and reduces the risk of certain chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
In the first study to examine duration of drinking, researchers used data from more than 40,000 U.S. adults participating in studies examining health, nutrition and lifestyle over a decade.
They found distinct patterns when it came to coffee consumption, with 36 percent enjoying it before midday, 16 percent consuming it throughout the day, and half not drinking it at all.
Compared to people who didn’t touch the caffeinated beverage, morning drinkers were 16 percent less likely to die from any cause and 31 percent less likely to die from disease. cardiovascular.
These benefits were observed both in “moderate” drinkers having two to three cups and in “heavy” drinkers drinking more than three coffees before midday.
Coffee reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes – but only if you drink it in the morning
Research suggests that when you enjoy an espresso or flat white is more important to your health than how much you drink.
Those who drank a cup or less also benefited, but with a smaller reduction in risk, according to results published in the European Heart Journal.
There was no reduction in risk for all-day coffee drinkers compared to those who never drink coffee.
Lead author Dr Lu Qi, from Tulane University in Louisiana, said: “Our results indicate that it’s not just whether you drink coffee or how much you drink, but also the time which day you drink coffee is important.
“We don’t usually give advice on timing in our dietary recommendations, but maybe we should think about it in the future.”
The authors said drinking coffee after midday can disrupt circadian rhythms, the body clock influencing daily cycles of physical, behavioral and mental changes.
Many all-day coffee drinkers may experience sleep disturbances due to the suppression of melatonin, an important sleep mediator in the brain. This, in turn, can lead to changes in cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and blood pressure.
Professor Thomas Lüscher, consultant cardiologist at the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in London, said: “Overall, we must accept the now substantial evidence that coffee consumption, particularly in the morning, is likely to be healthy . So drink your coffee, but do it in the morning.