Garfield, the cat wonders “Is there life before coffee?” in one of my favorite cartoons. Well, Garfield, there needs to be more time before coffee to achieve peak benefits of the coveted caffeine-loaded beverage.
According to researcher Stephen Miller PhD, the best time to drink coffee may be an hour after you awaken. It seems that fully-loaded (caffeinated) coffee interferes with our natural variation of blood cortisol levels.
According to researchers, drinking that first morning cup of Joe could cause the body to produce less morning cortisol. The problem is two-fold. Caffeine would therefore be less effective as a morning “wake-me-up” and could compromise the benefits of cortisol’s stressor effect for the body.
Our stress hormone, cortisol naturally peaks in the morning. Cortisol puts our body on alert to stressors and is responsible for the “fight or flight” reaction that causes our heart rate to increase and blood pressure to respond to physical and emotional stressors. for example, if we are ill or have an accident, cortisol helps our body recover by adjusting our blood sugar, pulse rate and activating our immune response.
Help your body be at its healthy-best! Take an hour in the morning to get up, get dressed and ready to go. THEN begin your morning cup of happiness. A change in habit could lead to a positive change in health.