Here's What Time You Should Really Drink Coffee Every Day

If you're someone who stumbles out of bed in the morning and heads straight into the kitchen with one eye closed, unable to wake up until you've had your morning cup of coffee, you're going to be surprised to learn that your caffeine injection might not be serving you as well as it could be. According to experts, there's a specific time you should be pouring your daily dose of liquid gold — and it's not the moment you open your eyes. 

As Amanda Maucere, RD, a Lung Health Institute wellness dietitian, revealed to Well+Good, "Although there hasn't been much research done in humans on the interplay between coffee, cortisol, and the circadian rhythm, we know enough about each one separately to suggest that waiting a little bit before having that first cup of coffee in the morning is a good idea." 

Here's what time you should really drink your coffee every day.

As Maucere explained to Well+Good, "When we first wake up, our cortisol is at peak levels which is part of what signals us through our circadian rhythm to wake up in the first place." Given coffee increases cortisol, there's no point in drinking it when your cortisol levels are already high. 

Instead, ASAPScience believes that the best time to drink your coffee is just after your cortisol levels have peaked, pointing to 9:00 am, 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, and 5:30 pm as the ideal times to settle in and enjoy your daily dose of the good stuff (via YouTube). While lifestyle can obviously affect these specific times (for example, if you work the night shift, your circadian rhythm is likely to differ to those who work the traditional 9:00 am to 5:00 pm), ASAPScience notes that you should aim to wait at least after waking up fully if you want to maximize your coffee and power through the day.