For most busy folks, getting in that daily cup of coffee comes down to practicality. Where can you drink it quickest, easiest, and cheapest to ensure you're not going through the day half asleep? But a pair of new studies suggest that you might want to be more mindful about when and where you consume coffee, as these decisions could be affecting your heart health and longevity.
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Drinking coffee in the morning could positively affect longevity.
A new study published in the European Heart Journal looked at the time of day U.S. adults drink coffee and how it affects their mortality.
Researchers analyzed the health data from roughly 42,000 participants over a mean of 9.8 years and identified "two distinct patterns of coffee drinking timing"—those who drink coffee in the morning (34 percent) and those who drink it throughout the day (14 percent). They concluded that "drinking coffee in the morning may be more strongly associated with a lower risk of mortality than drinking coffee later in the day."
More specifically, the study showed that morning coffee drinkers exhibited the following:
- 16 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality (referring to deaths in general, regardless of the underlying cause)
- 31 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease-specific mortality
Additionally, the researchers found that those who drank coffee in the morning had their all-cause mortality risk decrease further with a higher coffee intake. The same was not true for the all-day drinkers.
How does the timing of coffee affect health?
As for why this relationship between drinking coffee in the morning and longevity exists, study author Lu Qi, interim chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Tulane University and HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and Professor, told PsyPost: "Coffee drinking may affect circadian rhythm-related behaviors such as sleeping and hormones such as melatonin and cortisol, which are relevant to health."
In other words, those who drink coffee in the afternoon or evening may see a drop in the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep. "Disrupted circadian rhythms have been associated with higher blood pressure, inflammation, and increased risk of heart disease," explains PsyPost.
The outlet also points out that certain compounds in coffee can lower inflammation, a known contributor to many diseases. Since inflammatory markers are higher in the morning, drinking the beverage at this time could be beneficial.
However, the study authors note that their research was observational and, therefore, could not prove cause and effect. Additionally, participants self-reported their coffee-drinking habits, which leaves a wider margin for error. PsyPost posits that there's a possibility morning coffee drinkers also have healthier lifestyles overall. Therefore, the scientists say more research is needed on the subject.
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Certain coffee machines could also negatively affect heart health.
Another recent study, this time published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases, examined the difference between coffee brewed at home and in workplaces in Sweden. The purpose was to measure the levels of the diterpenes cafestol and kahweol in machine coffee.
Diterpenes are plant compounds found in coffee that have been found to elevate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, also known as the "bad" cholesterol. The researchers found that coffee made in workplace brewing machines (11 of which used a metal filter) had higher diterpene concentrations than paper-filtered coffee. Machines that used no filter at all, known as "boiled coffee," were the worst offenders (this is more common in Sweden than in the U.S.).
"Considering how much coffee is consumed in Swedish workplaces, we wanted to get a picture of the content of cholesterol-elevating substances in coffee from these types of machines. We studied fourteen coffee machines and could see that the levels of these substances are much higher in coffee from these machines than from regular drip-filter coffee makers," said study lead David Iggman, researcher at Uppsala University, according to SciTechDaily.
"From this we infer that the filtering process is crucial for the presence of these cholesterol-elevating substances in coffee. Obviously, not all coffee machines manage to filter them out. But the problem varies between different types of coffee machines, and the concentrations also showed large variations over time," he continued.
To put this in perspective, Science Alert notes that the study authors calculated the cardiovascular risk for a person who drinks three cups of coffee a day, five days a week. "Swapping the machine coffee for a nice paper-filtered java could reduce LDL cholesterol by enough to cut the relative risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease by 13 percent over 5 years, and 36 percent over 40 years," the outlet explains.
Though the study authors note that more research is needed on the subject, Iggman concluded: "For people who drink a lot of coffee every day, it's clear that drip-filter coffee, or other well-filtered coffee, is preferable."
