Well, for all of us coffee drinkers, here’s some positive medical news, saying that a habit we enjoy is also healthier. Comments afterwards.
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Coffee drinkers reap health boost –
but only if they do it in the morning
Pre-lunch brewers enjoy lower risk of death, analysis
finds, but benefit vanishes among all-day drinkers
Ian Sample Science editor
The Gusrdian
8 Jan 2025
People who get their coffee hit in the morning reap benefits that are not seen in those who have shots later in the day, according to the first major study into the health benefits of the drink at different times.
Analysis of the coffee consumption of more than 40,000 adults found that morning coffee drinkers were 16% less likely to die of any cause and 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease during a 10-year follow-up period than those who went without.
But the benefits to heart health appeared to vanish in people who drank coffee throughout the day, the researchers found, with medical records showing no significant reduction in mortality for all-day drinkers compared with those who avoided coffee.
Prof Lu Qi, an expert in nutrition and epidemiology at Tulane University in New Orleans, said …
“It’s not just whether you drink coffee or
how much you drink, but the time of day
when you drink coffee that’s important.
We don’t typically give advice about timing
in our dietary guidance, but perhaps we
should be thinking about this in the future.”
The study drew on the dietary habits of 40,725 adults – including the amount of coffee they consumed and when they had it – who participated in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2018. About 36% were morning coffee drinkers, while 16% drank coffee later into the day.
According to the study, morning coffee drinkers had a lower risk of death whether they were moderate drinkers on two to three cups a day, or heavy drinkers who consumed more. The health benefit was smaller for those who drank only one cup in the morning. The risks were assessed by analysing medical records for the participants for nine to 10 years after they enrolled in survey.
The results, published in the European Heart Journal, were verified in a smaller group of 1,463 people who completed detailed week-long food and drink diaries.
The study suggests that a morning dose of coffee is better for the heart than an evening one, but it does not explain why. One possible explanation is that drinking coffee later in the day can disrupt circadian rhythms and levels of hormones such as melatonin. This in turn affects sleep, inflammation and blood pressure, all of which can harm heart health.
In an accompanying editorial, Prof Thomas Lüscher, a consultant cardiologist at the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in London, notes that many all-day drinkers sleep poorly, adding that coffee seems to suppress melatonin, a hormone that is important for inducing sleep in the brain.
The effects are driven largely by caffeine, but coffee contains hundreds of other bioactive compounds that affect our physiology. The researchers say some substances in the blood that drive inflammation often peak in the morning and could be countered by anti-inflammatory compounds in a morning coffee. They write …
“This explanation applies to both
caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee.”
The latest work builds on a 2022 UK Biobank study which found that people who drank up to three cups of coffee a day had a healthier heart than those who went without. The NHS advises against drinking more than four cups a day because large amounts can increase blood pressure. Pregnant women should have no more than 200mg of caffeine a day to avoid a greater risk of low birth weight and miscarriage. A mug of filter coffee contains about 140mg. Lüscher writes …
“Overall, we must accept the now sub-
stantial evidence that coffee drinking,
particularly in the morning hours, is
likely to be healthy. Thus, drink your
coffee, but do so in the morning!”
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Some of my recent blogs focused on e-cars. I’ve been driving one for 11 years now. In addition to reducing harmful emissions that are causing climate crises, I actually enjoy driving it more than my gas car, as it’s zippier and handles better, and … it’s also a lot less expensive to operate.
I recently asked a young woman – who loves our Garden Atrium homes and places our information on the various social media – why she was still driving a gas car. She said she was nervous about the convenience of recharging. Well, the vast number of e-car owners simply recharge at home. Cell phones have an app that will direct you to the nearest recharger. And …
I discovered that 8 major gas station brands are quickly adding recharge stations, as they see the handwriting on the wall and want to shift to being a “source for refueling.” Over the years, car repair has shifted from the gas station to the dealer, with gas pumps outside of a convenience store. They want people to pull in to refuel, so they can sell groceries and the other items. The 8 major gas brands adding e-car recharging are: ExxonMobil, BP, Phillips-66, Shell, Chevron, GM, and gas & convenience outlets Pilot, Kum and Go, and Buc-ee’s, and Sheetz.
As Sustainable Living includes living 100% with what Earth provides and enjoying a better quality-of-life experience, e-cars and morning coffee are excellent contributors. Adding D’s comments …
“This is an excellent example of understanding how human chemistry works. Coffee in the morning is healthy; coffee all day long is not. Another example is that diabetics need to eat protein with carbohydrates. Each person has their own unique combination of food needs, and finding your food need will increase your energy levels. It is not easy to find the correct combination, and yet it is critical. Most people find it by trial & error until you’re feeling better and have more energy.
“It is a joy to see electric vehicles move from oddities to becoming more mainstream. When you see petrol companies say they need to put in charging stations, it tells us that the acceptance of electric cars is moving forward.”