Many coffee lovers out there know that a cup of coffee is a key ingredient to any morning. A caffeine kick seems essential before any important job that requires to focus, and a true pleasure in the afternoon to share with friends. Coffee can bring many benefits and being smart about it can help you achieve better results. You might even consider getting a coffee machine to use at home, so you have constant access to these beneficial drinks. However, is there a time when we should skip coffee for good, or some particular hour when coffee might be doing more good than usual? Read on to find out when is the best time to enjoy your favourite coffee and when should you opt for a different beverage.
How caffeine interacts with our hormones?
As coffee is one of the most popular caffeine sources, it’s important to consider how caffeine reacts and impacts our bodies during the day. Caffeine is a stimulant, that‘s why we may feel more alert and focused after a cup of coffee. Such stimulating affect can impact many other areas, such as physical performance and mood. We rely on that stimulating source of energy when we need it the most and usually, that‘s right after waking up, as we want to start the day quickly and do as much as possible. However, our physiology plays a role as well – as soon as we wake up our cortisol levels start rising and reach peak after 30–45 minutes. Cortisol is a known stress hormone that can enhance alertness and focus. It also regulates metabolism, immune system response, and blood pressure, however drinking coffee when your cortisol level is at peak may further increase it and result in unwanted health problems. It may be best to enjoy a cup of coffee a few hours after you wake up, when cortisol starts to naturally go down and you could benefit from a boost of energy. So if you generally wake up at 7 in the morning, pause on coffee till at least 9-10. Changing your coffee ritual to such timing could ensure a constant, natural flow of energy instead of a sharp spike and dip later on.
Why your coffee machine should be locked away in the afternoon?
Locking your coffee machine may be a bit of an extreme scenario, but if you’re drinking coffee later in the afternoon you should definitely stop. As caffeine is stimulating and promoting wakefulness, alertness and focus, it can also cause problems with sleep and even increase anxiety in some people. As the article in Medical News Today suggests, caffeine remains in our system for as long as 5 hours! Of course, it will depend on the amount consumed and your physiology and individual factors, but it’s quite a long time, even though the buzzing affect will seem less intense, during all those five hours your body will try to break down caffeine and it will be affecting you. If you are getting ready for bed or simply need to relax, it will be harder to do so, you may even notice a slight increase in the heart rate, particularly if you’re sensitive to caffeine. Consuming coffee after dinner may make it harder to fall asleep or cause sleep disruptions, you might find yourself waking up, restless or waking up to use the bathroom during the night due to caffeine effects on the bladder, which include higher urgency and frequency of urination. If you want to benefit from a healthy, healing sleep during the night, skip coffee for good in the late afternoon, or switch to caffeine-free alternatives.
Enjoy coffee before a workout to boost athletic performance
One of the best times to get caffeinated is before hard physical activity. During any workout we burn a lot of energy and need it to perform well, and since stimulating caffeine affects can help, it’s important to take advantage. In fact, it’s not only about more energy. Several studies have shown that caffeine can delay exercise fatigue and improve muscle strength and power. Time your coffee drinking ritual well – consume the beverage anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes before a workout to maximize its effects. It’s around the time it takes for caffeine to reach its peak level. However, keep in mind that a single cup of coffee may be not enough. Depending on your weight you may need anywhere between 200 and 400 mg of caffeine, or 2–4 cups of coffee to feel the effects on performance and strength. You could choose a brewing method that helps extract most caffeine – like filtered coffee or cold brew to get the required amount instead of chugging down cup after cup. However, keep in mind that if you are going to run a marathon, bathroom stops will be much more frequent due to this. There are many caffeinated performance boosting sports drinks for this, however a simple cup or two of espresso will be a much cheaper and easier alternative, plus delicious, too. So next time you’re getting ready for a workout, think of it as the best time to consume your daily cup or cups of coffee.
Keynote
Drinking coffee is part of our social life, it’s a delicious, warming beverage, but not only that. Knowing the effects of caffeine and how it interacts with our hormones, muscles and brain, we can use the drink to our benefit, or avoid certain issues and disorders. Be smart about it, consider when and how you’re consuming caffeine as it really does affect you in more than one way.
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