Early Morning is Actually the Worst Time to Drink Coffee (2024)

FAQs

Early Morning is Actually the Worst Time to Drink Coffee? ›

A person's cortisol levels (the stress hormone) is at its peak first thing in the morning and drops to normal levels between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. When you consume coffee, the caffeine also increases those cortisol levels. Delaying that cup could help a person make the most of that morning rush of hormones.

Another reason why we shouldn't drink coffee first thing in the morning is because our body is naturally dehydrated when we wake up. The body in sleep can use up to a litre of water. So what we need after waking up is to replenish it. Besides, caffeine is a diuretic and can make us lose more water.

I would wait at least an hour after waking up before you have your first coffee of the day.” Nataly Komova, nutritionist and fitness expert at JustCBD, adds that whilst increasing your cortisol hormones in the morning will give you a temporary alertness, you will crash after a while and be left feeling fatigued.

Coffee in the morning can have some potentially adverse effects on the body—dehydration, upset stomach, and cortisol level increases, to name a few.

The caffeine in coffee affects your levels of adenosine and melatonin, two key players in making you sleepy. Because of this, drinking coffee late at night likely isn't a good idea. In fact, it may be beneficial to try to avoid consuming caffeine within 6 hours of bedtime.

Your cortisol levels naturally peak about 30-45 minutes after you wake up. Drinking coffee right away can interfere with this natural process, leading to a less effective wake-up call. Dr. Brooks explains, “Cortisol is released when the body needs energy.

But sometimes if it's a hectic morning, it's easy to just grab a cup of coffee on an empty stomach. The good news is that drinking coffee on an empty stomach isn't necessarily bad for you, but it may cause some discomfort and side-effects throughout the day.

Waiting 90 minutes after waking up allows adenosine levels to rise slightly, making caffeine more effective at blocking receptors and keeping us alert throughout the day. Accordingly, to Huberman, that's the key to its method: you need to let some adenosine fix itself on receptors before you consume coffee.

While coffee can help you compensate for those drowsy times when you really need to feel more awake, at the wrong time, the beverage can do more harm than good. Drinking caffeine late in the day, when your cortisol levels should be dropping and adenosine should be building up, can throw off your body's natural rhythm.

"Although it helps wake us up, I often recommend waiting to have your first cup of coffee until about an hour or two after waking up," says Gatlin. "This allows your body to use its own resources for energy first." Gatlin instead recommends starting the day with a tall glass of water and a balanced breakfast or snack.

Why wait 45 minutes to drink coffee? ›

Grandner said he typically waits 30 to 60 minutes after waking up to savor his first cup. The idea is that since adenosine builds throughout the day, downing coffee first thing in the morning would give you “less bang for your buck” because your adenosine levels are at their lowest.

If a person drinks a lot of coffee or is under a lot of stress, then there is this constant level of cortisol floating around in the body. Cortisol causes weight gain, specifically in the belly area, for several reasons.

Balance your body's chemistry by quitting caffeine

Caffeine can have a drastic impact on hormone levels. For instance, it can raise the level of cortisol, the hormone related to stress, which can have a fair number of negative health consequences. Women may particularly benefit from quitting caffeine.

Too much caffeine can also cause anxiety in people with panic or anxiety disorders. For those who drink coffee, experts suggest brewing it with a paper filter, because unfiltered coffee is associated with higher rates of early death, and can contain compounds that raise levels of LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol.

Drinking coffee immediately after waking can lead to a spike in cortisol levels, she states, cortisol is a stress hormone, which may disrupt the body's natural production cycle and potentially contribute to stress-related health issues.

Here's what experts know about the timing of drinking coffee: Coffee first thing in the morning increases cortisol levels, potentially making you feel more wired. Coffee at night may (or may not, depending on your genes and metabolism) affect your slumber.

Anti-Inflammatory Properties: Coffee has been found to positively impact the gut microbiome with its prebiotic properties. Coffee can lower harmful specifics of microbes and feed the good bacteria in your gut ⁷. Source of Dietary Fibre: Dietary fibre can be found in some coffee grounds.

But Hill says it's not exactly as black and white as that, “Weight gain happens when we eat more energy than we burn off. “Caffeine can affect your metabolism, but drinking coffee on an empty stomach won't make you gain weight.

Coffee wakes you up and increases your energy levels for the long day ahead of you. Trials have shown that coffee increases memory recall, mood, productivity and learning speed ensuring that your mind is sharp from the beginning of the day. Having more energy can make you more social and easier to hang around with.