Coffee drinking timing and mortality in US adults

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Chronobiology

Background:

• Investigating coffee consumption patterns and their impact on mortality is crucial for public health recommendations.
• Understanding the temporal aspects of dietary habits, like coffee intake timing, may reveal novel health associations.
• Previous research has primarily focused on coffee quantity, with less attention paid to drinking timing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify distinct patterns of coffee drinking timing within the US population.
• To evaluate the association between identified coffee drinking patterns and all-cause and cause-specific mortality.
• To explore potential interactions between coffee intake amount and drinking timing concerning mortality risk.

Main Methods:

• Utilized clustering analysis on data from 40,725 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2018).
• Validated identified coffee drinking patterns using data from 1,463 adults in the Women's and Men's Lifestyle Validation Study.
• Analyzed associations with mortality outcomes (all-cause, cardiovascular disease, cancer) using survival analysis, adjusting for confounders.

Main Results:

• Identified two primary coffee drinking patterns: 'morning type' (36%) and 'all-day type' (14%).
• The 'morning-type' pattern was significantly associated with reduced risks of all-cause (HR: 0.84) and cardiovascular disease mortality (HR: 0.69) compared to non-coffee drinkers.
• Coffee drinking timing modified the association between intake amount and mortality; higher intake was linked to lower risk only in the 'morning-type' pattern.

Conclusions:

• Coffee consumption timing, specifically a 'morning-type' pattern, is associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality.
• The health benefits of coffee, particularly regarding mortality risk, may be influenced by when it is consumed.
• Findings suggest that prioritizing morning coffee consumption could be a beneficial dietary strategy for mortality risk reduction.