There’s a lot of conflicting research regarding coffee’s effect on the body. But is there still a best time to drink it?
Does time of day matter for coffee’s effect on health?
People love their morning coffee, and a study suggests that enjoying it early in the day might actually be better for your health than sipping it nonstop from sunrise to bedtime.
According to research published in the European Heart Journal, people who mainly drink coffee in the morning have a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
They also have a lower overall risk of dying from any cause compared to people who drink coffee throughout the entire day.
The work was led by Dr. Lu Qi from Tulane University in New Orleans.
Because caffeine affects our bodies in all kinds of ways, the team wanted to know if timing matters.
Does drinking coffee early versus late actually change anything about heart health?
To explore this, they analyzed information from 40,725 adults who participated in the long-running National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
These participants were asked to report what they ate and drank on at least one day, including when they consumed their coffee and how much they had.
There was also a smaller group of 1,463 people who completed a full week of detailed food and drink diaries.
The researchers then compared everyone’s coffee habits with death records over about nine to 10 years.
Roughly 36% of the group were morning-only coffee drinkers, meaning they mostly had their coffee before noon.
Another 16% drank coffee pretty much all day — morning, afternoon and evening.
And nearly half, about 48%, weren’t coffee drinkers at all.
The Results
People who drank coffee only in the morning were 16% less likely to die from any cause compared to non-coffee drinkers.
They were also 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
But interestingly, people who drank coffee throughout the entire day didn’t see any reduction in risk.
Morning drinkers seemed to benefit regardless of how much they drank.
Moderate drinkers, meaning two or three cups, saw the protective effect.
Heavy drinkers, meaning more than three cups, also saw it.
Even light drinkers — one cup or less — showed a small benefit.
Even after adjusting for variables like the number of cups, sleep habit, and other health factors, the morning drinkers had better outcomes.
Dr. Qi emphasizes that this is the first study (as of 2025) to look specifically at coffee timing and health outcomes.
Correlation but what about the “why”?
The study didn’t explain exactly why morning coffee seems protective.
One idea is that afternoon or evening caffeine might interfere with circadian rhythms and hormones like melatonin.
If your internal clock gets thrown off, it can affect inflammation, blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors. Thus, more research is needed. But this is a very interesting start.
The paper reports that clinical trials would help test whether shifting coffee to earlier in the day could improve health outcomes.
Coffee: Perhaps the Most Praised and Vilified Substance
There are many studies on coffee’s benefits. There are many studies on coffee’s potential harm.
Just what is the truth? Some say to play it safe by practicing moderation.
But moderation to one individual is deprivation to another when it comes to a steaming rich cup of coffee.
A study in 2019 found that six or more cups of coffee a day, regardless of time window consumed, has a harmful effect on the cardiovascular system.
