Pulp Fiction
When is the best time of the day to drink coffee? The correct answer isn’t “When I wake up” or “Always.” Sorry in advance to the “I can’t function without having my coffee first thing in the morning” people, but science has chimed in and said drinking coffee when you first wake up may actually cause your body to develop a tolerance to the stimulant.
To maximize the benefits of coffee, there is a certain time of the day when you should drink coffee. Steven Miller, a neuroscientist in Bethesda, Maryland, carried out a study to find out the best part of the day to indulge in coffee.
He studied the circadian clock, which is the 24-hour hormonal cycle that people run on and that changes physiology and behavior. Sunlight has a major effect on a human’s internal clock and the body releases a hormone called cortisol to make people feel awake and enhance alertness.
For the normal person who gets up around 7 am, the body produces the most cortisol between 8–9 am, 12-1 pm, and 5:30-6:30 pm. The cortisol has the effects of caffeine, so there is no reason to add more caffeine before or during this time frame.
Consuming caffeine at this time decreases the effects of caffeine and you will actually more easily develop a tolerance to coffee if consumed during the body’s natural caffeine time. The buzz you get will be greatly diminished. Too much cortisol can disrupt circadian rhythms, which can affect your health and alter sleep patterns.
Cortisol production declines after that time and so the best time to drink your morning coffee is between 9:30–11:30 am. And the best time to take your coffee breaks is between 1:30-3:30 pm.
You don’t want to drink coffee too late in the day because caffeine can remain in your system for up to 12 hours and can affect your sleep.
Click HERE to find out the best time of the day to do other things such as exercising, having sex, and finding a job.
[Inc]