Healthline News RSS Feed – Read More
- A 2025 study suggested that the time of day you drink coffee may affect your mortality risk, especially from cardiovascular disease.
- A recent study found that moderate consumption of caffeinated coffee (2 to 3 cups) or tea (1 to 2 cups) may reduce dementia risk and slow cognitive decline.
- Other research shows that moderate coffee consumption (3 to 5 cups) may help lower the risk of major diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, and certain cancers.
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages globally. Over 60% of people in the United States consume coffee daily.
A 2025 study analyzed patterns of coffee drinking and whether the time of day it is consumed affects mortality outcomes. The study found that people who consumed coffee primarily in the morning, rather than throughout the day, had a lower mortality risk than non-coffee drinkers.
A study published on February 9 in JAMA investigated the effects of consuming caffeinated coffee or tea on dementia risk, cognitive decline, and cognitive function preservation.
Other research has also shown that coffee may have various other health benefits. However, the addition of cream and sugar may reduce these benefits.
Heart health benefits of morning coffee
The 2025 study showed that people who drink coffee in the morning, rather than throughout the day or not all, may have a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, as well as a lower overall mortality risk.
“Drinking coffee in the morning shows a better beneficial relation than all-day drinking with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality,” Lu Qi, MD, PhD, lead author of the study, HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and Professor at the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University, told Healthline in an earlier interview.
The study involved more than 40,000 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and 1,463 adults from the Women’s and Men’s Lifestyle Validation Study.
Both of these surveys included lifestyle and health data from a cross-section of adults in the United States. This included questions about coffee and caffeine consumption.
Around 48% of the participants were non-coffee drinkers. The remaining participants were divided into two groups, based on their coffee consumption patterns.
About one-third of the participants were “morning-type coffee drinkers.” This means they consumed almost all coffee before noon, rarely consuming it in the afternoon or evening.
Around 16% of participants were in the second, “all-day-type” coffee drinkers. This means they consumed coffee throughout the day and into the evening.
Only the morning coffee group demonstrated significant risk reduction in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease-related death.
“At most, one can say if you are a coffee drinker, consider limiting it to AM hours, but this study is not designed or powered to talk about causality,” said Abha Khandelwal, MD, a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford Medicine who wasn’t affiliated with the study.
“I think a lot more has to be done in a much more scientifically rigorous way to make bold statements to change behavior,” she told Healthline.
Daily coffee may lower dementia risk
A study published in JAMA on February 9 found that moderate consumption of caffeinated coffee (2 to 3 cups) or tea (1 to 2 cups) a day may reduce the risk of dementia, slow cognitive decline, and preserve cognitive function.
The study analyzed 131,821 individuals from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS).
“When searching for possible dementia prevention tools, we thought something as prevalent as coffee may be a promising dietary intervention — and our unique access to high quality data through studies that has been going on for more than 40 years allowed us to follow through on that idea,” senior author Daniel Wang, MD, associate scientist with the Channing Division of Network Medicine in the Mass General Brigham Department of Medicine and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, said in a press statement.
“While our results are encouraging, it’s important to remember that the effect size is small and there are lots of important ways to protect cognitive function as we age. Our study suggests that caffeinated coffee or tea consumption can be one piece of that puzzle,” Wang continued.
Michelle Routhenstein, a preventive cardiology dietitian at EntirelyNourished who wasn’t involved in the study, said the findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that moderate intake of caffeinated coffee or tea may support brain health.
“Mechanistically, the findings make sense. Coffee and tea provide polyphenols, which can reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, support vascular health, and modestly improve insulin sensitivity. Caffeine may also help with alertness and attention, which could support cognitive performance over time,” Routhenstein told Healthline.
However, she cautioned that the study is observational, so while the associations are encouraging, they don’t prove causation.
Of the more than 131,000 participants in the study, 11,033 developed dementia. The participants with the highest intake of caffeinated coffee had an 18% lower risk of dementia compared with those who reported little or no caffeinated coffee consumption.
Caffeinated coffee drinkers also showed lower prevalence of subjective cognitive decline. Also, by some measurements, those who drank caffeinated coffee showed better performance on objective tests of overall cognitive function.
Higher tea intake showed similar results, while decaffeinated coffee did not. This suggests that caffeine may be the active factor producing these results, though further research is needed to validate the responsible factors and mechanisms.
Other benefits of coffee
Research has shown that moderate coffee consumption can have various health benefits, including a reduced risk of:
Moderate coffee consumption may also potentially reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, including liver and uterine cancers.
“For generally healthy adults, moderate coffee or tea intake of roughly 2 to 4 cups per day of mostly unsweetened, filtered coffee is compatible with heart and brain healthy patterns,” Routhenstein said.
She added that adding large amounts of refined sugar or high fat cream can reduce the heart-healthy benefits of coffee.
“If coffee is not tolerable, benefits from polyphenols can still be gained through other foods and beverages, such as tea, berries, nuts, vegetables, and other plant-rich foods,” Routhenstein said.
