Consuming Coffee Correctly
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Coffee is usually the first thing a person thinks about upon waking up. It is usually the first person consumes, and sometimes coffee is consumed before talking to anyone else.
A person’s circadian rhythm regulates their sleep and wake processes throughout the brain and body, including how tired they are throughout their day. It is this clock that controls the release of the stress hormone cortisol.
Consuming Coffee Correctly
It Is called the stress hormone as it is produced at high levels when your body’s fight or flight response is activated.
Cortisol is also related to the level of alertness a person experiences. It just so happens between eight and nine am, cortisol levels peak.
This means that your body has the natural mechanism to wake you up. Well, you think that caffeine can help with cortisol; scientists have found that consuming coffee during peak cortisol hours is not as effective, and you build up a greater tolerance to the drug over time.
Overall, this means you get less of a buzz and need even more now to stay awake.
When is Coffee Most Effective?
Researchers have that cortisol also peaks between noon and 1 pm and between 5:30 and 6:30 pm. Meaning it is more effective to drink coffee outside of those peak cortisol hours throughout the day.
These cortisol spikes and your circadian rhythm, in general, are more strongly regulated by sunlight, which means your sleep schedule does not come into play as strongly.
If you wake up too early or too late, your cortisol level will still spike by 50% right after waking up, regardless of what time it is.
Science says what about an hour after waking up to drink coffee for your brain and body to be working optimally together to get you through another day.