People who drink coffee in the morning have better heart health and a lower risk of death

People who drink coffee in the morning have better heart health and a lower risk of death

People who drink coffee in the morning have a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to people who drink coffee throughout the day, according to a study published in the journalEuropean Heart Journaltoday (Wednesday).

The research was conducted by Dr. Lu Qi HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and Professor at the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University, New Orleans, USA.

Previous research suggests that drinking coffee does not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and appears to reduce the risk of some chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. Given the effects caffeine has on our bodies, we wanted to find out if the time of day you drink coffee has an impact on heart health.”

Dr. Lu Qi HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and Professor at the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University, New Orleans, USA

The study involved 40,725 adults who took part in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2018. This study asked participants about all the foods and drinks they consumed on at least one day, including whether they consumed coffee, how much, and when. This also included a subgroup of 1,463 people who were asked to keep a detailed food and drink diary for a week.

Researchers were able to link this information to records of deaths and causes of death over a period of nine to 10 years.

Around 36% of study participants drank coffee in the morning (drinking coffee primarily before noon), 16% drank coffee throughout the day (morning, afternoon and evening), and 48% were non-coffee drinkers.

Compared to people who didn't drink coffee, morning coffee drinkers were 16% less likely to die from any cause and 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease. However, there was no reduction in risk for all-day coffee drinkers compared to non-coffee drinkers.

Morning coffee drinkers benefited from the lower risks, regardless of whether they were moderate drinkers (two to three cups) or heavy drinkers (more than three cups). Light morning drinkers (one cup or less) benefited from a smaller reduction in risk.

Dr. Qi said: "This is the first study to examine the timing of coffee drinking and health effects. Our results show that it's not just whether you drink coffee or how much you drink, but also the time of day you drink coffee. We." We don't usually give advice on timing in our nutritional recommendations, but perhaps we should think about it in the future.

"This study does not tell us why drinking coffee in the morning reduces the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. One possible explanation is that drinking coffee in the afternoon or evening may disrupt circadian rhythms and levels of hormones such as melatonin. This, in turn, leads to changes in cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and blood pressure.

“Further studies are needed to validate our findings in other populations, and we need clinical trials to test the potential effects of changing the time of day people drink coffee.”

In an accompanying editorial, Professor Thomas F. Lüscher, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, London, UK, said: “In her study published in this issue of the European Heart Journal, Wang saidet alanalyzed the time of day coffee was consumed in 40,725 adults from the NHANES study and 1,463 adults from the Women's and Men's Lifestyle Validation Study.

“During an average follow-up period of nearly a decade and after adjusting for caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption, the amounts of cups per day, hours of sleep, and other confounding factors were more attributable to the morning than all-day pattern, with a risk ratio of 0.84 and a risk of cardiovascular mortality as high as 0.69 Non-coffee drinkers were significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality.

"Why should the time of day matter? There is often a marked increase in sympathetic activity in the morning hours as we wake up and get out of bed, an effect that subsides during the day and reaches its lowest level during sleep. It is possible, as the authors point out, that drinking coffee in the afternoon or evening disrupts the circadian rhythm of sympathetic activity. In this context, it is of interest that coffee does suppress it Melatonin, an important sleep-inducing mediator in the brain.

"Overall, we need to accept the now substantial evidence that drinking coffee, particularly in the morning hours, is probably healthy. So drink your coffee, but do it in the morning!"

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