Did you know that there is a certain time you should drink coffee?
According to Time, drinking coffee before 9:30 a.m. can create more stress in your body. The stress hormone, cortisol, is the highest between 8 and 9 a.m. Caffeine interferes with cortisol levels in the body, which can lead to you feeling more stressed and anxious. This consumption of coffee causes the body to produce less cortisol and relying more on caffeine to compensate. After 9:30 a.m. you'll be less jittery and get the focus that you're looking for without anxiety.
Habitual morning coffee drinkers know that drinking coffee in the morning increases a person's caffeine tolerance. This replaces the natural cortisol-induced boost instead of adding it. Many people who drink coffee everyday develop a dependence for caffeine in the mornings. If don't get their daily fix, they will have a headache.
Cortisol levels are actually high three times a day. A study that took place in 2009 proved that the best time to drink coffee or just having caffeine is between 10 a.m. and noon and between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
This gives you an excuse to go and get coffee more than once a day! Be sure to grab one after 9:30 a.m. and again after 2 p.m.
My Outlook
I usually don't like to drink coffee right when I wake up. I don't need caffeine to function everyday, so coffee is more of something I enjoy for the taste. Lots of times I get a coffee after school which would be around 2 p.m. According to the 2009 study I talked about previously, this is one of the best times to drink coffee. Dunkin' usually has a special discount in the afternoons which makes me even more likely to go at that time instead of in the morning.
I also like to drink a hot cup of coffee at night after dinner on special occasions. For example, at Thanksgiving I always have a cup or two of coffee after my dessert. For some, caffeine makes them feel more awake, but for me, it usually relaxes me.