Whether you drink it or not, you can’t deny the power of coffee.
If you think of coffee first thing when you wake up in the morning, you’re not alone. From what I’ve observed, college students rely on coffee as part of their daily breakfast routine. However, Forbes recently published this article which tells us that drinking coffee between the hours of 8 and 9 am when most people first wake up, isn’t necessary.
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Our bodies run on a circadian clock which is a 24 hour hormonal cycle that tells us when it’s time to wake, eat, drink, and a variety of other things. At certain points in the day we produce the hormone cortisol which makes us feel alert and awake. Between 8 am and 9 am, cortisol is at its peak meaning our bodies are naturally caffeinated and therefore does not need coffee. By drinking coffee when we don’t actually need it, the effect is reversed, the buzz is diminished, and our tolerance increases.
So when exactly should you drink coffee? Our body is at a very low cortisol level at two main points during the day. These are from 9:30 – 11:30 am, and 1:30 – 5:00 pm. And for those optimistic early risers, levels of cortisol increase by 50% upon first waking up, so that first cup of java isn’t needed until about an hour after waking. So go ahead, drink up! Just wait a couple hours and you’ll thank yourself later.
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