The best time of the day to drink coffee
Logically, the best time to drink coffee is when it benefits your brain most efficiently – and science has discovered that contrary to popular opinion, this is not first thing in the morning.
Our bodies produce a key hormone called cortisol in the morning (at about 8am) to wake up, and less of it at night to help us go to sleep. What most people don’t realise is that caffeine interferes with the body's production of cortisol and causes you to produce less, just when you need it the most. As a result, you're consuming the caffeine when it's least effective on the body.
What’s worse is that over time the body comes to rely on the caffeine boost (rather than letting the cortisol do its natural job), which is why people develop a caffeine dependence.
In fact, a 2008 study found that people who drunk caffeine in the morning had built of more of a tolerance to it. This is because caffeine has replaced the natural cortisol, and thus has very little effect on a person’s alertness or productivity levels.
Cortisol tends to dip in the body between 10am and noon, and between 2pm and 5pm. So, logically speaking, this is the time to drink you cup of coffee.
What time do you have your morning coffee? Let us know in the comments below.
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