Coffee is believed to have many health benefits. An observational study published in the journal European Heart Journal suggests that limiting consumption in the morning could reduce the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality compared to not drinking it or consuming it throughout the day, regardless of the amount consumed.
If coffee is often consumed for its stimulating properties, “ Drinking coffee late in the day may disrupt daily circadian rhythms and therefore modify the association between quantity of coffee consumed and health effects.underline the authors. However, the link between consumption habits and mortality risk was not previously known.
In this study of 40,725 adults from the Nhanes (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) 1999-2018 cohort, representative of the American population, two distinct patterns of coffee consumption were identified : 36% of participants consumed their coffee mainly in the morning (between 4 a.m. and 11:59 a.m.) and 14% throughout the day (between 12 p.m. and 3:59 a.m.), while the others did not consume it. These patterns were validated in two other American cohorts including 1,463 adults.
During a median follow-up of 9.8 years, 4,295 deaths from all causes occurred, including 1,268 from cardiovascular diseases and 934 deaths from cancer.
After adjusting for various factors, notably the quantities of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumed and sleep disorders, consuming it especially in the morning was significantly associated with a reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality of 16% compared to not to consume it. Such an association was not found in individuals who consumed coffee throughout the day.
Additionally, drinking coffee in the morning was also associated with a 31% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular mortality, but was not associated with the risk of cancer mortality. Consumption of coffee throughout the day was not associated with cardiovascular mortality or cancer mortality compared to not consuming coffee.
A risk of mortality reduced by 28% for moderate consumption
Among individuals consuming coffee mainly in the morning, consumption of one to more than three cups per day was significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality (reduced by 15% for less than one cup, by 16% for one to two, 28% for two and three and 21% for more than three). Similar trends were observed for cardiovascular mortality without reaching significance. Such associations were not found significantly among coffee consumers throughout the day.
“We thus found that coffee consumption habits significantly modified the association between the quantities of coffee consumed and the risk of all-cause mortality, with morning coffee appearing to be more strongly associated with a lower mortality risk than coffee consumption throughout the day »summarize the authors.
