A nutritionist says coffee in the morning could help you avoid everything from headaches to Alzheimer’s disease. A recent observational study by the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that people who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and early death than those who avoided the hot drink.
And Nicola Shubrook, Registered Nutritionist with the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT), and a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner at the Institute for Functional Medicine, said the benefots of morning coffee gop beyond that.
Speaking to Coffee Friend, Nicola said: “It’s important to note that many of the studies done on coffee and health benefits are with coffee in its purest form. So black with no sugars or artificial sweeteners. One of the interesting things about coffee that makes it unique is the components of it in this form. Researchers believe coffee has hundreds of polyphenols, which can work as anti-inflammatories and antioxidants. Coffee can also be high in fibre, and the bitterness can be good for our livers.
“Have black coffee or pure espresso shots. Your taste buds may be used to the sweetness that comes with sugar, sweeteners or even some of the plant-based milks we have on offer. And black coffee can taste very bitter if you’re not used to it. Our body actually loves bitter foods and drinks, and they’re good for our liver, stimulating bowels and getting digestion going. So I would recommend gradually reducing the amount of milk and sugar or sugar alternatives until your taste buds have adjusted.
“Studies have shown a link between coffee consumption and reduced risk of heart disease, and this can be because things like cardiovascular health and diabetes are inflammatory conditions. So the thought is if you consume something anti-inflammatory, like coffee which contains hundreds of polyphenols, it could reduce the risk of something developing.
“Coffee acts like a colonic stimulant and its impact on the body is similar to that of a meal. As it can trigger contractions in your colon and intestinal muscles, this may lead to an easier bowel movement and less discomfort from constipation.
“Fibre is key for gut health and studies have claimed that brewed coffee contains soluble fibre, while coffee beans are rich in non-digestible polysaccharides. The gut also thrives on polyphenols, which can be found in coffee, and they act like prebiotics. When something is rich in prebiotic properties, it works by feeding your beneficial bacteria that make up your gut microbiota. Microbiota can help to regulate our immune system, the digestion of food and also the production of key vitamins, such as B12.
“The compounds found in coffee can have a positive impact on the gut and and the gut lining, but also the neural and non neural components of the gut wall responsible for motor function and the gut brain axis. There has been research to support that gut microbes help to produce many of the chemical neurotransmitters that send messages between your gut and brain. So in simplified terms, you could say a healthy gut, a healthy brain. This is also what has led researchers to suggest a link between coffee consumption and a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s.
“A lot of people believe coffee gives them a headache, but I have read research recently that suggests it may work as a protective measure against headaches. The thought is that when you’re suffering from a headache, blood vessels tighten which leads to pressure and therefore pain. Coffee helps vasodilation, which is the widening of blood vessels and this may cause them to relax and reduce the pressure.”
Researchers who wanted to assess whether the time of day people drink coffee has any impact on their health studied more than 40,000 adults in the US taking part in long-term studies examining health, nutrition and lifestyle.
They found two distinct patterns of coffee drinking – those who drink coffee before midday and those who drink coffee all day. More than a third (36%)of those taking part in the study were deemed to be morning coffee drinkers while around 14% were all-day coffee drinkers.
The research team, led by experts from Tulane University in the US, tracked people in the study for almost a decade. During the follow-up period some 4,295 people taking part in the study died.
After taking into account various factors, the researchers found that morning coffee drinkers were 16% less likely to have died compared with those who drank no coffee. And they were 31% less likely to have died from heart disease.
There was no reduction in risk for all-day coffee drinkers compared with those who did not drink any coffee. The researchers said higher coffee intake amounts were “significantly” associated with a lower risk of death, but only among people who drank coffee in the morning compared with those who drank coffee all day.
“Drinking coffee in the morning may be more strongly associated with a lower risk of mortality than drinking coffee later in the day,” they wrote in the European Heart Journal. Lead author Dr Lu Qi, from Tulane University in Louisiana, said: “Research so far suggests that drinking coffee doesn’t raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, and it seems to lower the risk of some chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes.
“Given the effects that caffeine has on our bodies, we wanted to see if the time of day when you drink coffee has any impact on heart health.”
He added: “This is the first study testing coffee drinking timing patterns and health outcomes. Our findings indicate that it’s not just whether you drink coffee or how much you drink, but the time of day when you drink coffee that’s important. We don’t typically give advice about timing in our dietary guidance, but perhaps we should be thinking about this in the future.
“This study doesn’t tell us why drinking coffee in the morning reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
“A possible explanation is that consuming coffee in the afternoon or evening may disrupt circadian rhythms and levels of hormones such as melatonin. This, in turn, leads to changes in cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and blood pressure.
“Further studies are needed to validate our findings in other populations, and we need clinical trials to test the potential impact of changing the time of day when people drink coffee.”
In a linked editorial, Professor Thomas Luuscher, from the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals in London, said “many all-day drinkers suffer from sleep disturbances”. He wrote: “Overall, we must accept the now substantial evidence that coffee drinking, particularly in the morning hours, is likely to be healthy. Thus, drink your coffee, but do so in the morning.”
Similar findings were observed among those who drank caffeinated coffee or decaffeinated coffee either in the morning or throughout the day.
The researchers said that among coffee drinkers, participants with morning-type pattern were more likely to consume tea and caffeinated soda but consume less coffee – both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee – compared with those who drank coffee all day.