What is the best time of the day to drink coffee? And how much is too much

Coffee is a daily essential for many of us because of its energy boosting effects, but to harness this effect without disrupting your sleep, choose the optimum time of day to enjoy your favourite brew

Coffee’s energising effect is dependent on the size of the coffee and the strength of the caffeine. Photo: Getty

Hanne Vandenweghe

Wake up well, sharpen your focus at work or exercise more efficiently: coffee drinkers can benefit from caffeine’s boosting effects throughout the day. That is, they will achieve this boost as long as they schedule those cups, because drinking coffee too late can be a disaster for sleep.

Drinking coffee in the morning has an impact on the rest of the day. If you have a sensitive stomach, then it is better not drink it when you’ve only just woken up. “It can cause nausea,” says Michël Sels, chief dietitian at Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium.