Last month, I wrote about apple cider vinegar and some of the reasons and ways people might include it in their diet. Toward the end of the column, I mentioned I was going to try incorporating ACV into my own diet, and that I was also going to adjust the timing of my morning cup of coffee.
Unfortunately, I didn’t end up drinking ACV in the mornings—or at other times with any regularity—so I can’t report any observations about adding it to my diet. I’m still considering it as an occasional addition to hot water with honey, but want to proceed with caution due to its acidity.
I did, however, delay my coffee by 90-120 minutes almost every morning for the last month, and while I can’t say I experienced a major change in my sleep or alertness, I trust that delaying caffeine intake is beneficial. I should note that I traveled twice during this month, and while I was able to delay coffee and/or drink my coffee after eating breakfast, changing our routine that drastically made it hard to assess any improvements in my daytime alertness and sleep.
Despite not seeing a drastic change after delaying my morning coffee, I was excited to learn more about how caffeine works in our bodies. I’d always considered myself as having a low tolerance to caffeine, and after listening to Andrew Huberman’s podcast entitled “Using Caffeine to Optimize Mental and Physical Performance,” I’ve learned I’m ‘not caffeine adapted.’ (More on that next month!)
I did a very brief and pretty shallow dive into caffeine…there’s A LOT to this seemingly simple molecule so many of us consume on a daily basis. Just scratching the surface, though, should give us enough information to use it to our advantage. I took most of my information from Huberman’s podcast, and I’d encourage anyone who finds this interesting to listen to it in full.
First, let’s talk about WHY we should delay our intake of caffeine after waking:
In short, we want to allow our bodies to wake up naturally BEFORE we add in caffeine. There are two things in our bodies that contribute to sleeping and waking: adenosine (a neurotransmitter), and cortisol (a hormone). They have opposing jobs; adenosine increases throughout the day, making us feel sleepy; and cortisol rises at the end of sleep, waking us up. After waking, the continued rise in cortisol serves to ‘clear out’ the remaining adenosine, helping us feel more alert. However, if we consume caffeine shortly after waking, the caffeine blocks the adenosine receptors and prevents cortisol from clearing it all out. What happens? We will likely experience the typical afternoon dip in energy because we simply ‘pushed back’ our tiredness, instead of letting cortisol take it away.
Additionally, according to Huberman, if you delay your caffeine intake until after cortisol has risen, you will feel more alert when you finally do have your coffee. Also, you may feel more alert for longer periods of time, which means you may not experience the afternoon dip in energy, and you may end up drinking fewer cups of coffee in a day.
As a regular first-thing-in-the-morning coffee drinker, I was initially put off by the idea of waiting to drink my coffee. However, it was relatively easy to delay my coffee, as I replaced it with a cup of hot tea in the mornings. Additionally, at Huberman’s urging, I’ve also started getting outside for a short walk after the sun rises. I’m a bad sleeper, so I’ll try anything to help myself get better sleep!
Getting morning sunlight directly in your eyes—not through a window—is the best thing you can do improve your sleep. (I realize this is a column about caffeine, but caffeine and sleep are so intertwined it’s hard not to include a bit about sleep.) Huberman recommends getting bright sunlight, and perhaps even a bit of exercise within the first hour after waking in order to help your cortisol peak, which then clears out the remaining adenosine.
So, as you can see, delaying your morning coffee until after your cortisol has peaked can lead to more alertness, which leads to fewer cups of coffee per day, which also leads to better sleep the following night.
Huberman did mention that there may be times you might want to drink your coffee first thing in the morning, and that’s if you’re an early exerciser. So, if your routine is such that you swig some coffee and then go and do some intense exercise, please continue! He simply adds that you may still experience an afternoon dip in energy.
If you’re really concerned about missing the immediate caffeine hit you get with your morning cup of coffee, but are intrigued by the benefits of waiting, try drinking half a cup at your normal time, and the other half a bit later. Or, delay your coffee by 20-30 minutes each day until you reach 90 minutes to lessen the impact for those first few days.
This was part one of a multi-part series on caffeine, and next month I’ll go into what a ‘dose’ of caffeine is. I plan to continue delaying my morning cup of coffee, and I’ve just recently added in a 15-minute walk each morning to get sunlight. Hopefully I’ll be able to report back next month with improved sleep!
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