Is Eating Before Your First Coffee of the Day a Good Idea?

When it comes to eating in the morning, most of us prefer a spot of liquid beforehand. Having a cup of coffee before we tuck into a meal is the common choice for lots of us. However, according to some, it might be better to have a quick bite to eat before you down that first coffee. The more tired you feel, the harder it is to stomach the idea of making and then eating food. However, a recent study found an interesting link between your sleep quality and your intake of coffee, and the impact that it can have on your blood sugar levels.

The research, carried out by research guru Harry Smith, found that continued poor sleep, or lack of sleep, will begin to weaken the body. Getting up after a poor sleep and having a cup of coffee, though, seemed to hurt our glucose metabolism. In some cases, it was as much as a 50% difference.

They found that by having a healthy breakfast beforehand that this problem could be somewhat alleviated. However, it should be noted that this study involved less than thirty people, and it was not a long-term study. So, if you feel like having your coffee in the morning before anything else is an essential part of your ritual then fair enough.

This, though, is one of the first times that a study has openly said that a morning coffee before anything else could be potentially problematic. The study did show one pretty solid conclusion, though: trying to avoid sleeping and simply energizing yourself with coffee is not going to work, and it is guaranteed to fail across a long-term experience.

Missing the odd night of sleep is common, and your body can still thrive even without that sleep for one evening. If you start to make this a habit – and worse, you try to fight off your tiredness with coffee – you could run into a few problems down the line.

If you can stomach it, it might be worth having something to eat before you go for the kettle or coffee machine. It is not for everyone, but it is absolutely for some.