When and How to Drink Coffee for Maximum Benefits

I needed to find out how to drink coffee the right way, so I did the research. Let’s learn how to enjoy coffee for maximum health benefits.

Coffee is a dark, seething contradiction poured into a ceramic cup. It sharpens thought, extends lifespans, and strengthens the heart—except when it doesn’t. When it hammers at my ribcage at two in the morning and when it curdles in my gut.

The question isn’t whether to drink it. That was settled years ago, sometime between the first desperate sip before an early flight and the late-night press of warm porcelain against my palms. The real question is how much is too much?

How much before the hands begin to shake? How late before sleep becomes a distant theory? Should it be bitter and black, or tempered with milk in an attempt at civility? Does it matter if it drips through paper or simmers in a copper pot, or is the caffeine all that counts?

I needed to know. So I went looking.

What Does Science Say About Coffee’s Impact on Health?

A few years ago, I read that coffee drinkers tend to live longer.¹ This was good news because if there’s anything I excel at, it’s drinking coffee while staring blankly at my laptop, waiting for my brain to arrange words into sentences.

Studies suggested that people who drank moderate amounts of coffee a day had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and premature death.² I found this encouraging, not because I feared premature death, but because it was the kind of research that justified a habit I had no intention of breaking.

There is, as always, a limit. Moderation is key, a word often used by people who refuse to quantify their warnings. In this case, the numbers exist: two to three cups a day, 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine, the difference between a productive morning and a full-body tremor.

There is another asterisk attached to these benefits. Not all coffee is created equal. How you brew it determines whether you’re drinking something that could extend your lifespan or slowly clog your arteries. Filtered coffee, for instance, is tied to a lower risk of death than unfiltered coffee or no coffee at all.³

Read: How to Make Pour Over Coffee Without a Scale

People who drank one to four cups of filtered coffee per day had the lowest mortality rates, while those who preferred unfiltered brews faced a higher risk of cardiovascular disease—possibly because unfiltered coffee retains compounds that raise cholesterol levels. I guess my meticulously prepared moka pot coffee might be less of a health drink and more of a slow sabotage.

And then there’s the matter of milk. Coffee purists insist on consuming only black coffee. Adding dairy or sugar or anything that might muffle its innate bitterness is morally wrong. However, science suggests adding milk to coffee could double its anti-inflammatory effects.⁴ The secret lies in the antioxidants found in coffee beans. Polyphenols bind to milk proteins and boost their ability to relieve inflammation.⁵

Of course, this does not mean coffee is the cure for all ills. No credible scientist is suggesting that you can find longevity in a venti-sized cold brew. But for those of us who drink it not just out of habit but out of genuine pleasure, it’s a relief to know that science, for once, is on our side.

Why Might Drinking Coffee All Day Be a Problem?

The human body has a caffeine-free system for staying awake and alert. It’s called the cortisol awakening response (CAR).⁶ It’s one of the most underappreciated factors in understanding how coffee, circadian rhythms, and sleep interact.

CAR is a natural surge in cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone, occurring within the first 30–45 minutes of waking up. This spike, which can increase cortisol levels by 50% or more, helps regulate alertness, metabolism, and immune function. It’s essentially your body’s way of booting up for the day.

For most people, CAR peaks about 30 minutes after waking and gradually declines throughout the day. This rhythm is influenced by several factors, including sleep quality, light exposure, and stress levels. A well-functioning CAR aligns with our circadian rhythms, ensuring that we feel awake in the morning and naturally wind down in the evening.

How Coffee Interferes with CAR

Do you drink coffee the very moment you wake up in the morning? If yes, I’m sorry for what you’re about to find out.

Since CAR is already working to increase cortisol and alertness, caffeine can disrupt this biological process. You’re overriding it with an artificial stimulant instead of letting your body do its job. Sticking to this ritual may lead to greater caffeine dependence at some point.

⁷Studies suggest that consuming coffee too early can impair the body’s natural cortisol production. In the long run, this could reduce your sensitivity to cortisol, making it harder to feel awake without caffeine. In other words, that frantic craving for coffee first thing in the morning might be due to long-term overreliance on caffeine.

Beyond the morning ritual, caffeine’s impact on sleep is another key consideration. Caffeine has a half-life of about 5–6 hours, meaning that even an afternoon cup can linger in your system well into the evening. This can interfere with melatonin production, making it harder to fall asleep and disrupting circadian rhythms over time.

How Should You Structure Your Coffee Routine?

If you love coffee, drink it. But maybe drink it with a little more strategy. Morning is better than all day. After 5 PM is a gamble. An hour after waking up is smarter than first thing. And eat something before you take that first sip.

Drink coffee in the morning for cardiovascular health.

A study following more than 40,000 adults found that people who drank their coffee before noon had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a higher chance of making it to old age than those who nursed their cups throughout the day. Those who stick to morning coffee were 16% less likely to die of any cause and 31% less likely to die of cardiovascular disease.⁸

This does not mean drinking coffee in the morning is a ticket to immortality. It does mean that drinking coffee all day might not be the brilliant life choice some of us thought it was.

Don’t drink coffee on an empty stomach.

Studies suggest that black coffee before breakfast is like punching your metabolism in the face. Drinking strong black coffee before breakfast raises the blood glucose response to food by about 50%.⁹ This isn’t ideal. If you feed your body with caffeine first thing, you’re making it hard to manage blood sugar levels. You could end with insulin resistance over time.

This doesn’t mean you need a full English breakfast before your first sip. A piece of toast, a banana, a spoonful of peanut butter—something to let your digestive system know it’s time to start the day without immediate panic. It’s like giving your metabolism a heads-up before you hit it with the main event. Otherwise, you might spend the rest of the morning running on caffeine and misplaced confidence, which works right up until it doesn’t.

Avoid coffee after 5 PM.

Some people say caffeine doesn’t affect their sleep. These people are either genetic anomalies or in deep denial.

Researchers tested what happens when people consume 400 mg of caffeine—roughly two to three cups of coffee—at different times of the day. Those who had caffeine six hours before bedtime lost over an hour of sleep, even if they swore they slept just fine.¹⁰

The trick here is that they felt fine. Subjectively, they thought they’d had a normal night. Objectively, their bodies had been quietly sabotaging them, slicing away precious minutes of restorative sleep.

Wait an hour after waking up before drinking coffee.

If you want to work with your body’s natural rhythms instead of against them, the best time to drink coffee is 60–90 minutes after waking. By this point, your cortisol levels have peaked and begun their gradual decline, making caffeine more effective at boosting alertness without interfering with CAR.

If you want coffee to work for you rather than just on you, it’s better to let your body wake up on its own first. Give it an hour. Drink some water. Stare blankly at a wall. Contemplate your life choices. Then, when the cortisol wave has done its job, have your coffee.

By working with your biology instead of against it, you get the energy boost you need—without the caffeine rollercoaster.

Parting Thoughts

There was a time I drank coffee whenever I felt like it. That time was called my twenties. I’d down an espresso at 8 PM, confident that my youth and questionable decisions would carry me through the night. They did, until they didn’t.

If you’re looking for a coffee routine that serves you well in the long run, the formula is simple: drink it in the morning, preferably filtered, ideally with a bite of food. Black is great, milk might be better, and after 5 PM is a fool’s bet. The rest is up to you.