Coffee in the morning can protect the heart better than drinking it all day

people who drink café in the morning have a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and overall mortality compared to those who do it throughout the day, according to a study published today in the European Heart Journal.

The research, led by Tulane University (USA), included 40,725 adults who participated in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2018.

About 36% of study participants drank coffee in the morning, mostly before noon; 16% throughout the day and 48% did not consume this product.

The results indicate that, compared to people who did not drink coffee, those who consumed it in the morning were 16% less likely to die from any cause and 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.

However, there was no reduced risk for all-day coffee drinkers compared to non-coffee drinkers, Tulane University reported in a statement.

Additionally, morning coffee drinkers benefited from lower risks, whether they were moderate drinkers (two to three cups) or more than three, while those who consumed one cup or less had a smaller decrease in risk. risk.

The investigations carried out so farsuggest that coffee consumption does not increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and appears to reduce the risk of some chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes″said researcher Lu Qi, who led the investigation.

Given the effects that caffeine has on the body, they wanted to check “if the time of day when coffee is drunk has any impact on heart health,” he added in the note.

The results indicate – he highlighted – that “the important thing is not only if you drink coffee or how much you drink, but also the time of day you drink it.” “We don’t usually give advice on when to drink coffee in our dietary guidelines, but maybe we should think about it in the future.”

The research doesn’t say why drinking coffee in the morning reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, but Lu pointed to a possible explanation.

“Consuming coffee in the afternoon or evening can alter circadian rhythms and levels of hormones such as melatonin. This, in turn, causes changes in cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and blood pressure.”

The researcher indicated that more studies are needed to validate these findings in other populations, as well as clinical trials to test the potential impact of changing the time of day that people drink coffee.

As part of the study, participants were asked about all the foods and drinks they consumed on at least one day, including whether, how much, and when they drank coffee.

It also included a subgroup of 1,463 people who were asked to complete a detailed food and drink diary for a full week.

The researchers were able to link this information to death records and cause of death over a period of nine to ten years.

In an editorial accompanying the research, Thomas Lüscher, from the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals in London (United Kingdom), indicated that it is possible, as the authors point out, that coffee consumption in the afternoon or at night alters the circadian rhythm of sympathetic activity.

During the morning “there is usually a marked increase in sympathetic activity when we wake up and get out of bed, an effect that fades during the day and reaches its lowest level during sleep.”

Many all-day coffee drinkers suffer from sleep disorders. “In this context, writes Lüscher, it is interesting that coffee appears to suppress melatonin, an important mediator of sleep in the brain.”.