Coffee slashes the chances of heart attack and stroke – but only if you drink it in the morning.
Research suggests the time you enjoy an espresso or flat white is more important to your health than how much you drink.
Having between one and several cups before midday was found to cut the risk of heart and circulatory diseases by 31 per cent when compared with those who drink it throughout the day.
Drinking coffee is linked to better heart health and found to lower the risk of some chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
In the first study to examine the time it is consumed, researchers used data from more than 40,000 US adults taking part in studies examining health, nutrition and lifestyle over a decade.
They found distinct patterns of coffee drinking, with 36 per cent enjoying it before midday, 16 per cent consuming coffee throughout the day and half not drinking it at all.
Compared with people who did not touch the caffeinated drink, morning consumers were 16 per cent less likely to die of any cause and 31 per cent less likely to die of cardiovascular disease.
These benefits were seen in both ‘moderate’ drinkers enjoying two to three cups and ‘heavy’ drinkers enjoying more than three coffees before midday.
Coffee slashes the chances of heart attack and stroke – but only if you drink it in the morning
Research suggests the time you enjoy an espresso or flat white is more important to your health than how much you drink
Those who had one cup or less also benefited but with a smaller decrease in risk, according to the findings published in the European Heart Journal.
There was no reduction in risk for all-day coffee drinkers when compared to those who never drink it.
Lead author Dr Lu Qi, from Tulane University in Louisiana, said: ‘Our findings indicate that 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 authors said drinking coffee after midday can disrupt the circadian rhythms, the body clock influencing daily cycles of physical, behavioural and mental changes.
Many all-day coffee drinkers may suffer from sleep disturbances due to it suppressing 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, a consultant cardiologist at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals in London, said: ‘Overall, we must accept the now substantial evidence that coffee drinking, particularly in the morning hours, is likely to be healthy. Thus, drink your coffee, but do so in the morning.’
