So, with the world population totalling around 7.8 billion, that means on average, every single human being drinks around 50 cups of Coffee each year!

(I’d argue my average is closer to 5000 ha.)

Now, I love black coffee for many, many reasons.

It’s a great source of antioxidants.

(In fact, it’s the largest source of antioxidants for the US population.)

Antioxidants are super important for reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as Cancer, Heart disease and Type 2 Diabetes.

It also tastes amazing.

(I don’t think anyone will dispute that…)

And it helps to give you that extra jolt of energy in the morning.

But one of the lesser known benefits of black coffee is that it can be an excellent tool for weight loss.

There’s a caveat however.

Drinking black coffee at the wrong time could be a disaster for your fat loss goals.

So, with that in mind, I’ve created this article which breaks down the best time to drink black coffee for weight loss.

(Hint: It’s the morning.)

Ready?

Let’s go.

4 Reasons Why The Morning is The Best Time To Drink Black Coffee For Weight Loss

1. Caffeine in Black Coffee helps fat loss

A lot of the fat-burning effects from drinking black coffee can be credited to its high caffeine content.

(An average cup of Joe contains 95mg of Caffeine. (Source)

How does caffeine help with fat loss? I hear you ask.

Well, a new study in the journal Scientific Reports found that caffeine can stimulate brown fat.

This is the fat that keeps your body warm by burning calories.

(You can also stimulate brown fat through exercise and good quality sleep.)

Putting geeky scientific theories aside, many studies in humans have shown that caffeine found in black coffee helps with weight loss.

A systematic review of 13 randomized controlled trials concluded that for every doubling of caffeine intake, fat loss is increased by 28%!

Okay. So now that we know caffeine is great for fat loss, let’s cover why this means you should drink your cup(s) of Joe in the morning.

If you’re a regular reader here, you’ll know that the evening is the best time to eat carbs for fat loss.

But recent research has shown that if you ingest caffeine alongside carbs (i.e. drink your black coffee in the evening), there’ll be a greater insulin response than if you had your carbs with water.

This larger spike of Insulin will make fat loss more difficult, since insulin instructs your body to store energy (rather than burn it).

2. Black Coffee curbs your appetite

Thanks to drinking black coffee in the morning, my first meal of the day isn’t until around 12pm.

In other words, black coffee keeps my hunger pains at bay, and helps me intermittently fast in the morning, which has been shown to help with weight loss.

It does this in multiple ways.

Firstly, it keeps insulin levels minimized for longer.

As I mentioned earlier, insulin is a storage hormone that tells your body to keep hold of energy.

When insulin levels are high, thanks to high-carb diets and frequent snacking, your body is in a fat-storage mode.

(This was actually crucial to us humans surviving thousands of years ago when we’d often go days without food.)

When insulin levels are low, thanks to low-carb diets and intermittent fasting, your body releases fat to be used for energy.

Another way it helps is by lowering your daily caloric intake.

By skipping breakfast, you’re essentially eating 2 meals a day instead of 3.

For the majority of people, this means you’ll be eating less calories overall in the day, which will help with weight loss.

3. Caffeine in Black Coffee can interfere with sleep

Although the caffeine found in black coffee is generally good for your health, it can destroy your sleep quality if its use isn’t respected.

To see why this is the case, let’s briefly cover how caffeine actually works.

As the day progresses, a chemical called adenosine rises which signals to the brain that you need to rest, i.e. Sleep.

But to send this message to your brain, adenosine needs to bind to adenosine receptors.

To a nerve cell, caffeine looks just like adenosine, meaning that caffeine can bind to the adenosine receptors just like adenosine does.

But caffeine doesn’t instruct your brain that it needs to calm down.

In other words, when you drink black coffee, caffeine binds to your adenosine receptors which instead of slowing down your nervous system, speeds it up.

Your pituitary gland senses this unusual activity and produces adrenaline.

(You know… the hormone released when you jump out of a plane?)

Now, I don’t know about you, but I personally would have a hard time falling asleep after jumping out of a plane.

And with research showing that sleep quality is vital to weight loss, drinking black coffee in the evening is a big no-no.

In fact, caffeine has a half-life of around 6 hours, meaning it takes 6 hours for the amount of caffeine in your blood to reduce by 50%.

So, drinking black coffee after 2pm is a big no-no.

4. Black Coffee consumption raises Cortisol

Cortisol is a stress hormone that fluctuates in a circadian rhythm.

It’s naturally high in the morning, which helps you wake up and then it lowers throughout the day so that you’re calm in the evening.

By drinking black coffee in the morning, your cortisol levels are going to be increased when your body expects them to be high, which is normal.

But when you drink black coffee in the evening, your cortisol levels will spike when they’re supposed to be at their lowest.

(Fighting with nature never ends well.)

This makes weight loss more difficult in multiple ways.

For example, chronically elevated cortisol levels have been shown to increase dreaded belly fat.

Also, high cortisol levels in the evening can reduce your sleep quality, which as we’ve previously discussed, can harm your weight loss goals.

Conclusion

Black coffee is probably my favorite drink when it comes to weight loss.

But like with everything we eat/drink, it needs to be respected.

Drinking your black coffee in the morning is the best time for weight loss as it tastes amazing, helps your body burn fat in the absence of carbs, and keeps your hunger at bay.

However, drinking black coffee in the evening can make you more likely to increase belly fat as well as wrecking your sleep.

Thanks for sticking to the end and I’ll see you in the next one.

P.S I’d love to hear your coffee recommendations! Please share them in the comments below.