Since I shook up my morning coffee routine, I have found myself more energetic and considerably more focused on my work.
Our blood might be mostly water, but human souls run on coffee with over 2 billion cups drank worldwide each day. We just can’t get enough of it.
It all began when I was a teen
I used to hate coffee. That was until I turned 16 and got a job at my local Starbucks, serving an array of caffeinated beverages in eight-hour shifts. By the end of my first month, I was hooked.
Since then, coffee has been a crucial part of my day. Whether I was working retail or studying at University, I was practically guaranteed to have a coffee in my hand.
Unfortunately, this led to some less-than-ideal habits. For one, I grew attached to a Starbucks secret menu item called the Liquid Cocaine which is as deadly as it sounds. Secondly, I ignored scientific advice and drank coffee whenever I felt like it. Shock, it was all the time.
Switching it up
Tired of restless nights and exhausted days, I recently set out to make small and manageable lifestyle changes. One such change was my caffeine intake.
Knowing I could never give up the Jitter Juice, I reduced my intake massively to a solitary cup in the morning. If I hit all my other goals, I also treated myself to a homemade lavender Matcha in the afternoon. But this wasn’t enough, leading me to think that timing mattered significantly. As it turns out, it does.
When to have your morning coffee, according to science
After waking up in the morning are bodies go into overdrive to produce cortisol, which helps us feel awake and alert. Coincidentally, it’s also what makes us feel stressed. This level peaks around 45 minutes to an hour after waking up.
If you drink coffee after immediately waking up, it’s a little like swimming upstream. It won’t do anything because cortisol levels are still rising. Another factor is adenosine, which makes us feel sleepy the later in the day it gets.
While there isn’t a specific time to start drinking coffee, neuroscientist Andrew Huberman recommended waiting 90 to 120 minutes before partaking.
“The reason I delay caffeine is that one of the factors that induce a sense of sleepiness is the build-up of adenosine in our system,” he said. “The buildup of adenosine accumulates the longer we’re awake, so early morning, your adenosine levels are likely to be very low.”
After considering and trying out the expert opinion, I can categorically say that it had the desired effect. Now, if I wake at 8 am I typically wait until around 11 am before I whip up an iced latte.
