Best Time to Drink Coffee to Prevent Premature Death, According to a Study

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Drinking coffee is not only related to taste and energy boost, but also has a connection with longevity. The time of coffee consumption is said to affect how much of its health benefits are realised.

A recent study published in the European Heart Journal found that consuming coffee in the morning is associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease.

Although the exact mechanism is not yet fully understood, researchers suspect that consuming coffee in the afternoon or evening may disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm or biological clock, potentially reducing its health benefits.

“This is the first study to evaluate the pattern of coffee consumption timing and its impact on health,” said the lead researcher and Director of the Center for Obesity Research at Tulane University, New Orleans, Dr. Lu Qi, as quoted by CNN International, Thursday (5/6/2025).

In this study, the researchers compared two patterns of coffee consumption, namely only in the morning and throughout the day.

The results showed that compared to people who did not drink coffee at all, those who only drank coffee in the morning had a 16% lower risk of early death from various causes. Meanwhile, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease was 31% lower.

In contrast, those who drank coffee throughout the day did not show a similar reduction in risk.

The findings remained consistent even after the researchers had taken into account various other factors such as sleep patterns, age, gender, race, ethnicity, income, education level, physical activity, diet quality, as well as health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.

In addition, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee still provide similar benefits for morning drinkers.

However, it is important to remember that this study is observational. This means that the study cannot fully prove the cause-and-effect relationship.

“This study is observational, not an experiment which is the gold standard,” said a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, who was not involved in the study, Vanessa King, via email.