Drinking a cup of coffee first thing in the morning blunts the
energy-boosting effects of caffeine and may lead to increased tolerance
of the stimulant. This counterintuitive fact is explained in engaging
visual form by Ryoko Iwata, "a Japanese coffee-lover living in Seattle"
on her appropriately titled blog, I Love Coffee. Iwata based her post on research gathered by Steven Miller, a Ph.D. candidate at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda.
Everybody is different, of course, but we are all guided by the 24-hour hormonal cycle referred to as the circadian clock. These basic rhythms are preprogrammed into us genetically and although we can mess with our cycles through lifestyle habits, the major factor in their regulation is sunlight. One of the things that this clock controls in humans is the release of the a hormone called cortisol which makes us feel alert and awake.
Here's the thing. The peak production of cortisol occurs between 8–9 am (under normal
Everybody is different, of course, but we are all guided by the 24-hour hormonal cycle referred to as the circadian clock. These basic rhythms are preprogrammed into us genetically and although we can mess with our cycles through lifestyle habits, the major factor in their regulation is sunlight. One of the things that this clock controls in humans is the release of the a hormone called cortisol which makes us feel alert and awake.
Here's the thing. The peak production of cortisol occurs between 8–9 am (under normal






