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Alert: You’re Drinking Your First Cup Of Coffee At The Wrong Time

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We all know the saying, the early bird gets the worm. However, in the case of coffee consumption, that may well not hold true. According to expert Dr. Sarah Brewster, it’s totally not worth standing in line at Starbucks for your cup of Joe before 10 am.

Research done by Time 4 Sleep determined that most people have their first cup of coffee by 8:30 am, and Dr. Brewster is here to tell you why drinking coffee that early is mostly ineffective.

Let’s Talk About Cortisol Levels

“It’s never a good idea to reach for the coffee pot immediately after waking,” the expert said. “Between 8am and 9am your body is naturally flooded with cortisol – a stress hormone that has an alerting effect and mobilises energy after your overnight fast.

“Your blood cortisol levels are highest between half an hour and two hours after waking,” explains the doctor, who adds: “When your cortisol is peaking, it’s the worst time to drink coffee because caffeine mimics the stress response and causes your cortisol levels to rise even further. This disturbs your biorhythms and induces a caffeine intolerance so it is less effective later in the day.”

Wading through the scientific mumbo-jumbo, this essentially means that drinking coffee while your cortisol levels are already high builds up an intolerance to the stress response induced by coffee (you know, so you don’t fritz out of control) and drinking coffee post 10 am when your stress levels have dipped makes it more effective. Sounds simple right?

Compulsive junk food eater, football watcher, and book reader. Hate the unicorn trend, love laughing at my own jokes; also, sometimes I write about food.