YouTube (this isn’t a piece about YouTube). I have shifted through several genres of YouTube videos throughout the pandemic but the most consistent have been commentary channels. One of these guys, Leon Lush, had a nice quote in one of his recent videos related to Qanon. He said “The internet is a fickle bitch… no matter what you want to believe is true, you will be able to find a version of that online to latch on to.” So, should you drink coffee before or after a meal? Let’s talk about a version for each.

BTW, I ran a poll on the @shareyourkape Instagram and the results show that my followers at least mostly preferred to drink coffee after a meal (68% of the responders to be exact).

Obviously this isn’t a thorough and scientific blog post. It was written based solely on internet sources. There may be reference to certain studies, however it will still be best to listen to what your body tells you and to consult your doctor.

The Case for drinking Coffee before a meal

Coffee is one the drinks that’s some say can be drunk during your “fasting state” when following intermittent fasting. It’s because black coffee (must be black) is supposed to be a low-calorie drink and some believe it helps suppress appetite (though I haven’t found enough to say that it does). However, when following intermittent fasting, this Healthline article lists some more benefits of including coffee in an intermittent fasting plan. This eating schedule is not for everyone and you really should consult your doctor if you want to try intermittent fasting.

How about coffee before lunch (or even dinner)? This article alluded to a study that allegedly says drinking coffee before a meal (say lunch) “is believed to reduce the laziness and sleepiness that occurs after eating”. However, the article does not specify why or link to the study and unfortunately, I cannot find the study myself. Nevertheless, this helps the case for drinking coffee before a meal especially if you’re on a working day.

And this article by Mashed says that drinking coffee right after (and even during) a meal may interfere with your body absorbing iron. Now the article does go on to say that the preferrable time to drink coffee around a meal is about an hour before it, but it does also say that one hour after shows the same benefit. So this bit is not exactly making the case for drinking coffee right before a meal. Also, the source was from WebMD so I guess take that with a grain of salt?

And now the case for drinking Coffee after a meal

Now I only had little time to “research” about this piece (totally an excuse), but I keep just getting articles about drinking coffee before breakfast after a bad night’s sleep. James Hoffmann I believe made a video about this topic in 2020.

So these articles share the results of a study that show that drinking black coffee, after a bad night’s sleep, before eating breakfast “substantially increased the blood glucose response to breakfast by around 50%”. This is important since we normally think that drinking black coffee helps us wake up after a bad night’s sleep and it’s generally good since it was just one night (the study was just for one bad night’s sleep).

This piece by Healthline says that drinking coffee on an empty stomach generally does not have significant adverse effects. However, it will be safer to observe how your body reacts to caffeine and to always consult your doctor. I know most of you already know that but I keep saying this for my own safety, you know how it is.

It’s all about preference

For most of us, drinking coffee either before or after a meal really boils down to our personal preference. However, articles like these give us additional insights that we can consider in our coffee drinking regiment. Like coffee after (and during) a meal may impact iron absorption or that black coffee on an empty stomach after a bad night’s sleep can cause an insulin spike. I’ve also written something before about what could be the optimal times within the day to drink coffee so you can also check that out.

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