Key Traction-Point:
Your coffee will probably be the most effective if you enjoy it between 9:30am and 11:30am, when your cortisol levels are dropping before the next spike.
Most people drink coffee first thing in the morning. But is that the right way to do it? If you’ve ever had coffee and felt like it didn’t work, you’ve run into the field of chronopharmacology — the study of how medications and drugs interact with your biology.
When it comes to coffee, the main piece of biology to consider is your body’s level of cortisol—a hormone related to stress and alertness. The more cortisol in your body, the more naturally alert you are. Similarly, the more alert you are, the less effective coffee is going to be. So you should really time your caffeine doses with your dips in cortisol.
And if you really want to get the most out of your maximally optimal coffee experience, LifeHacker suggest taking a 15 minute (no longer) nap right after you chug your coffee—a strategy known as the “caffeine nap.” [bz: I do this on the weekends and thoroughly enjoy how much more active my dreams are! LOL]
Continue reading this Smithsonian Magazine article.
Post Script: Here’s another excellent, related, article – What Are The Health Benefits of Power Naps? – that’s over at www.healthambition.com. Give it a read.
Post Post Script: How to Take a Caffeine Nap: A Definitive Guide for 2018 – I’m definitely a fan of this technique. (Although, on the downside, I personally tend to ‘caffeine nap’ for longer than Natasha recommends. On the upside, though, I definitely feel like I benefit from having significantly more active dreams!)