That morning cup of coffee might do more than boost alertness—it might promote longevity. While many studies link moderate coffee drinking to better health, the timing of those effects is less clear. However, a recent study found that morning-only coffee drinkers were more than 30% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 40,000 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and 1,400 adults in the Women’s and Men’s Lifestyle Validation Study. They searched for patterns in the timing of coffee consumption and tracked participants for an average of nearly 10 years to monitor deaths from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Two coffee-drinking patterns emerged: a morning-only pattern (4 a.m. to noon) and an all-day pattern. Compared with people who didn’t drink coffee at all, those who drank coffee only in the morning had a 16% lower risk of dying from any cause and a 31% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, indicating that the health benefits of drinking more coffee were strongest among morning-only drinkers. Surprisingly, caffeine didn’t explain the difference. When the researchers adjusted for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee intake, the timing of coffee drinking still mattered.

These findings suggest that drinking coffee earlier in the day offers more health benefits than drinking it over the course of the day. Coffee induces autophagy–a critical process that helps reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. Learn more in this clip featuring Dr. Guido Kroemer.