Love Morning Coffee or Tea? Science Says the Boost Lasts Just 2.5 Hours

-by ENT specialist doctor-Dr Sagar Rajkuwar, Nashik ,Maharashtra ,India -clinic website-

www.entspecialistinnashik.com

Table of contents-

• Introduction
• Background
• About the Study
• Key Findings
• Summary
• References-

Introduction

For countless individuals, beginning the day with a warm cup of coffee or tea is not merely a routine—it is a reliable method to gain energy and enhance their mood. Recent studies indicate that the “mood enhancement” provided by caffeine might actually be quite brief, lasting approximately 2. 5 hours. Although coffee and tea can quickly make us feel more awake, their effects fade sooner than most of us understand. This can lead to mid-morning tiredness, irritability, or a desire for another cup.

This discovery is changing the way researchers understand the effects of caffeine on energy, concentration, and emotional well-being. This article will examine the findings of the study, the reasons for the short-lived effect, and healthier methods to sustain consistent mood and energy levels during the day.

Morning coffee or tea will be a mood booster for just 2.5 hours: new research

Researchers examined the link between caffeine use and emotional states in daily life, as well as how this relationship differs according to time of day, context, and individual traits, in a recent paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.

They discovered that caffeine intake was typically followed by a minor to moderate rise in positive emotions, particularly when consumed within the first 2.5 hours after waking, with a smaller but noticeable increase around 10 to 12.5 hours after waking, however the intensity of these connections was influenced by social context and tiredness.

Researchers have verified it. Your attitude improves throughout the morning with your cup of coffee.

Researchers from the University of Warwick and Bielefeld University in Germany were informed by coffee consumers that drinking a cup of tea or coffee enhanced their mood throughout the first 2.5 hours of the day, but that the effect didn’t last into the afternoon.

Nature Scientific Report published their results.

The researchers collected 28,000 mood reports by monitoring the moods of over 200 young people for a period of up to four weeks each.

Instead of being in labs, where previous research of this kind has been conducted, the participants in this study were prompted on their phones throughout the day. The prompts came seven times daily, asking whether they had recently ingested caffeine and how they were feeling at the time.

Professor Anu Realo of the University of Warwick’s psychology department states that caffeine can “increase dopamine activity in key brain regions, an effect that (past) studies have linked to improved mood and greater alertness.”

Additionally, according to him, even those who use caffeine in moderation may have mild withdrawal symptoms that go away with the first cup of tea or coffee in the morning.

The study found that caffeine intake is associated with a two and a half hour immediate boost in positive emotions, especially happiness and excitement, within waking up.

Contentment and a decrease in sorrow showed lesser impacts

The study examined various amounts of caffeine consumption along with varying degrees of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and sleep difficulties. They concluded that the effect of caffeine intake on both positive and negative emotions was “consistent across all groups.”

Factors such as fatigue and social environment, on the other hand, influenced the link between caffeine and mood

According to the study, “morning caffeine intake may align with habitual use patterns, where the anticipation of caffeine’s effects contributes to its affect-enhancing properties. X factors, such as the expectation of positive effects and the ritualistic aspects of consuming coffee or tea after awakening, could amplify its impact on positive affect.”

Past research, however, has shown that the first intake of caffeine seems to enhance mood and cognitive function, but that subsequent consumption does not result in any more advantages.

The study claims that “the effect may therefore be strongest at this time of day” because the majority of individuals often have their first cup of coffee or tea in the morning (such as at breakfast).

Background

Caffeine is well-known for its capacity to improve mood, performance, and alertness, and it is used by many people across the world. Although laboratory research backs up these advantages, there is less information about how caffeine impacts mood in everyday circumstances.

By inhibiting adenosine, a brain molecule that induces drowsiness and is associated with depression and anxiety, caffeine functions as a stimulant. Caffeine increases dopamine and noradrenaline by preventing adenosine from functioning, which may improve mood.

When individuals are at their most tired and prone to sleep inertia, which might be in the morning, these consequences may be at their worst. However, there is some indication that caffeine can also cause anxiety or sleep problems, particularly in susceptible people or when taken in large amounts or at a later time of day. Furthermore, the context in which caffeine is ingested, such as whether it is done in isolation or in social settings, can influence emotional reactions to it as much as biology can.

The goal of this study was to investigate how caffeine consumption affects our immediate emotional experiences, or our affect, during the course of our everyday lives. Researchers also looked at how this connection is influenced by elements such as the time of day, individual differences in sleep quality, caffeine dependence, mental health, and social environment.

About the Study

The link between this and happiness and contentment in the second trial varied from person to person, but it was especially related to heightened feelings of excitement in both samples.

Key Findings

r negative emotions—specifically, less sadness and anger, but not anxiety—was the second one. Furthermore, the impact was minimal and varied across studies.

With the most noticeable benefits seen in the first 2.5 hours following waking, decreasing thereafter, and showing a lesser but notable rise between 10 and 12.5 hours after waking, the strength of the link between caffeine and positive effects was dependent upon the amount of time that had passed since then. There were no time-of-day effects on negative affect.

The link between caffeine and its effects was unaffected by individual variables like caffeine dependence, consumption patterns, depression, anxiety, or sleep quality.

However, being around others dampened caffeine’s mood-boosting effects, while momentary tiredness (both now and in the past) made them stronger. There were no physiological or contextual moderators of negative mood.

Conclusions

With no consistent or significant effects on negative affect, this research offers actual evidence that caffeine increases positive affect, particularly right after waking up. Regardless of the time metric used (clock time, sleep midpoint), the morning effect remained potent. It’s interesting to note that situational variables like fatigue and social context had an impact on these relationships, but individual traits like caffeine sensitivity or mental health symptoms did not.

Given evidence of mood improvements in non-habitual users or circadian rhythm effects, the withdrawal reversal hypothesis remains debated in the literature, but the data implies that caffeine has the greatest mood-enhancing impact in the morning, perhaps due to habitual consumption habits. The second study’s stronger and more consistent effects are probably attributable to its larger sample size and the fact that it was conducted at a time when there were fewer pandemic-related limitations than the first study.

However, the study is limited by its dependence on self-reported data, its young and gender-biased sample, its lack of precise caffeine timing, and its failure to directly evaluate chronotype. Future research should focus on objective circadian indicators, withdrawal symptoms, and first daily intake.

Caffeine is consistently associated with better mood, particularly in the morning, and its effects are more impacted by environmental circumstances than by consistent personality traits.

References-

This article is written as per the clinical experience of ENT Specialist doctor -Dr Sagar Rajkuwar(MS-ENT) ,Nashik Maharashtra -Clinic website-www.entspecialistinnashik.com References taken from-

https://share.google/BFdPulHkAxa9HiQII

https://nypost.com/2025/08/24/health/extremely-unsurprising-news-about-morning-coffee-drinkers/

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20250806/Does-your-morning-coffee-or-tea-really-boost-your-mood-Heree28099s-what-science-says.aspx

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