It’s 7 AM and your alarm goes off. Your reflex? A coffee, essential to your morning routine. However, according to researchers at the University of Washington, you should wait a few hours before drinking your first coffee of the day.
Why 10:30AM?
The caffeine contained in your coffee has a non-negligible effect on cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that is naturally present in your organism that allows energy to be released by extracting it from your sugar reserve in your body. Therefore, it would be preferable to consume coffee when our level of cortisol is low in our body, since caffeine interacts with that hormone.
Consequently, the level of this hormone usually peaks between 7 and 8 in the morning. The best time to consume coffee would ideally be between 9:30 and 11 in the morning, as our cortisol levels dramatically drop. This way, you will optimize your vigilance and energy for the rest of the day.
Nonetheless, specialists specify that the ideal hours of caffeine consumption shift from one individual to another, according to their own production cycle of cortisol.
And you, what time do you like your coffee?