When is the best time to drink coffee for ‘significant’ health benefits?

Many of us swear by it and say we could not function without it. By last estimates, the world drinks 2.25 billion cups of coffee each day, and to meet world demand, 178 billion bags of the stuff are grown each year.

While drinking too much coffee can have negative side effects from its high caffeine content, drinking the right amount, specifically at the right time could “significantly” lower your risk of an early death, according to a new study.

Researchers from Tulane University in the US wanted to see whether the time of day people drink coffee has any impact on their health and looked at 40,000 adults over a 10-year-period

Over that time, the team saw two distinct patterns of coffee drinking among these participants, those who drank coffee before midday and those who drank coffee all day.

After taking into account other health and lifestyle factors, the research team found morning coffee drinkers were 16 per cent less likely to have died compared with those who drank no coffee, while 31 per cent were less likely to have died from heart disease.

Writing in the European Heart Journal, the team’s lead author Dr Lu Qi explained that higher coffee intake was “significantly” associated with a lower risk of death, but only among people who drank coffee in the morning compared with those who drank coffee all day.

“Research so far suggests that drinking coffee doesn’t raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, and it seems to lower the risk of some chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes,” Dr Qi wrote.

“Given the effects that caffeine has on our bodies, we wanted to see if the time of day when you drink coffee has any impact on heart health.”

While there are numerous studies that have examined the health effects of coffee, Dr Qi explained this is the first time that researchers analysed how coffee drinking times can affect health outcomes.

“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,” Dr Qi said.

However, Dr Qi pointed out that the study doesn’t explain why drinking coffee in the morning reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

It also does not show why similar findings were observed among those who drank caffeinated coffee or decaffeinated coffee either in the morning or throughout the day.

“A possible explanation is that consuming coffee in the afternoon or evening may disrupt circadian rhythms and levels of hormones such as melatonin.” Dr Qi wrote.

“This, in turn, leads to changes in cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and blood pressure.”

While coffee may have its benefits, Australian scientists recently discovered that regularly eating nuts can also contribute to a longer, healthier life.

Australian scientists have found that regularly eating nuts helped older adults maintain a healthy lifespan and the results could guide health professionals to assist those with a poorer diet in the future.

Researchers from Monash University looked at data from almost 10,000 older adults and found that those who frequently ate nuts, regardless of what type or form, lived longer without dementia or persistent disability, compared to those who never or infrequently ate nuts.

Lead author Holly Wild said while the study took into account poor oral health and diet, the data still showed that eating nuts remained positively associated with a healthy lifespan in later life.

“Nuts can be a good choice for a snack or as part of a meal, even if your diet might not be optimal in other ways,” Wild said.

“If you are wanting to incorporate more nuts into your diet, nuts are available in multiple different forms in supermarkets these days, including whole nuts, chopped or crushed nuts, nuts meals, and nut butters or pastes.

“The latter options may be much more accessible to those with oral health issues, and chopped nuts can be added to salads, cereals and smoothies.”

However, she advised that over-eating nuts was not advised and pointed out that current Australian Dietary Guidelines suggest that adults should be consuming 30 grams of nuts, or 1/3 of a cup (or a small handful) or approximately two tablespoons of nut butter on most days of the week.

– with PA