Dr. Matt Walker

or you could just do it every night with a late night coffee should you should you wish so again i've and maybe we'll speak about this in in later episodes i have changed my mind on caffeine i think morning caffeine use or coffee i should say being more specific is fine because i think there are health benefits and we can go into in subsequent episodes why coffee and the coffee bean itself can provide those benefits

So I've become a little bit more bullish on morning caffeine, but evening caffeine, I just think the data is just not supportive.

Even if you are, and there are variations and you were very astute in your question,

Some people, I said, on average, caffeine has a half-life of about five to six hours.

For some people, it's quicker, and for other people, it's slower.

Why is that?

It's based on a gene, and we know the gene.

It's a gene that is part of a set of liver enzymes, and the gene is called the CYP1A2 gene.

And there are variations in that gene, what we call polymorphisms.

And you can do these genetic tests that you can buy these kits and they will probably tell you which you are.

Are you sensitive?

Are you not sensitive?

You probably already know.

And so some people will not be as sensitive and therefore they can have a more compressed timeframe of a half-life because it's moving out of their system in a quicker manner.

So again, I'm not trying to be scaremongering.

I think you can have coffee in the morning and you'll be just fine.

That late night coffee, I would like to see you obviate that if you are someone who's doing it.

Yeah, if it's just for the taste, go decaf.

If it's not, I understand that.

In some ways, what I'm talking about is the ideal world.