For many, the day begins with a hot mug placed next to the telephone, even before having opened the shutters. This first coffee has become a reassuring, almost automatic cue, which gives the impression of launching the brain into “on” mode. And yet, this reflex could be far from being the most effective.
Several sleep and nutrition specialists point out that there is an ideal time to drink your coffee in the morning, very different from the famous coffee when you get out of bed. As summarized by an expert cited by the British site Mirror: , reports Mirror.
What your body does between waking up and 11 a.m.
When you wake up, the body releases a key hormone: cortisol. This is the “cortisol awakening response,” a peak that occurs within 30 to 45 minutes and already helps you open your eyes. Drinking coffee during this peak would amount to superimposing caffeine on an already maximum natural stimulation, with an ultimately less clear effect felt.
Doctors like neuroscientist Dr. Steven Miller explain that, if you get up around 7 a.m., the cortisol peak falls between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. This is also the window recommended by physician Dr. Deborah Lee, who advises waiting at least 45 minutes, ideally 60 to 90 minutes, before the first cup.
The exact recommended time for your first coffee
To simplify, several experts offer a very telling rule: wake-up time + approximately 90 minutes. Wake up at 6 a.m., coffee around 7:30 a.m. Wake up at 7 a.m., coffee between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Wake up at 8 a.m., coffee around 9:30 a.m. – 10 a.m. Because basically, the objective is to place the caffeine when the cortisol begins to drop.
A team behind the “Coffee AM Formula” went even further, with an equation that takes into account the time to get up and the wake-up reminders, and which falls for getting up at 7 a.m. at a very precise time: 9:24 a.m. Here again, we remain in this window where the biological clock calms down and where coffee really “wakes you up”.
Until what time to drink coffee without harming sleep
And then there is the question of the last cup. Caffeine has a half-life of 5 to 6 hours: six hours after a coffee, you still have half of it in your blood. Specialists like nutritionist Nichola Ludlam-Raine therefore recommend finishing coffee between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. if you go to bed around 10 p.m. – 11 p.m.
The European authorities also recall a quantity framework: the EFSA advises not to exceed 400 mg of caffeine per day, or approximately three filter coffees in healthy adults. A large study by the European Society of Cardiology, carried out on 40,725 adults, even observed that coffee consumed between 4 a.m. and 11:59 a.m. was associated with a 16% reduction in overall mortality and a 31% reduction in cardiovascular mortality. The daily newspaper Midi Libre sums up this morning ritual well with this formula:
At what time exactly should you drink your first coffee in the morning?
Doctors converge on a first coffee around 90 minutes after waking up, or often between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. for a typical rise around 7 a.m.
What happens if I drink my coffee first thing in the morning?
You drink your coffee at the peak of cortisol, the stimulating effect will be less clear and you risk gradually increasing the doses to feel something.
Until what time can I drink coffee without disturbing my sleep?
Specialists advise stopping caffeine 6 to 8 hours before bedtime, which often corresponds to a last coffee before 2 or 3 p.m.
