Coffee is a drink rich in benefits. And according to a new study, carried out by researchers at Tulane University, in the United States, taking it in the morning could help you live longer.
Drink your coffee between 4 a.m. and noon
For this work, scientists studied data from 40,725 adults. These volunteers all participated in the American National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2018. Among them, 1,463 kept a detailed diary about their diet.
Of the lot, 36% had the habit of drinking coffee in the morning (between 4 a.m. and noon), 16% drank it throughout the day and 48% did not take it.
Mortality reduced by 16%
The result: Morning coffee drinkers are 16% less likely to die from any cause than those who don’t drink it. Their health condition is also better in terms of cardiovascular health: they are 31% less likely to die from an illness of this type than others. Individuals who consumed coffee throughout the day did not present any specific advantages over non-consumers.
Another interesting fact: the number of cups of coffee drunk does not come into account.
“It’s not just whether or how much you drink coffee, but also what time of day you drink it that’s important” explains Professor Lu Qi, director of the study and expert in nutrition and epidemiology at Tulane University. “We don’t usually give advice on when to eat in our dietary advice, but perhaps we should think about it in the future“.
Why is it beneficial to have coffee in the morning?
Researchers naturally wondered about the reasons for these results. “One possible explanation is that drinking coffee in the afternoon or evening can disrupt circadian rhythms (or body clock) and levels of hormones such as melatonin. This in turn leads to changes in cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and blood pressure” explains Professor Lu Qi. If you like the drink, consider drinking it preferably in the morning, to make the most of its benefits.