A cup of coffee in the morning may lower a person's risk of heart-disease related death, new research has found.

A study from Tulane University Obesity Research Center has found people who drink coffee in the morning have a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

The research, which was published in the European Heart Journal, could not prove if coffee was the sole factor in the reduced mortality risk.

The study's lead researcher Dr Lu Qi said one reason could be that having coffee later in the day could disrupt a person's internal body clock.

Dr Qi also said more clinical trials are needed to determine the reason behind the reduce mortality risk.

On Lunchtime Live, dietician Shelly Grey said she considers coffee to be a "health food" in her own diet.

"How great is it that one of our simple pleasures is good for us?" she said.

Ms Grey pointed to a number of factors in coffee that she believes qualifies it as healthy.

"Coffee is a plant food in that it comes from the coffee bean," she said.

"If you think of the advice of having 30 different plant foods in our diet a week  - that's what we should be aiming for.

"Your cup of coffee can actually count towards that."

Close up view of the hand of a man working in a coffee house, Alamy

Ms Grey said coffee is also a source of fibre, with an estimated 1.5g of fibre in each cup.

Coffee also contains polyphenols.

"These act as a source of food or fuel for our gut microbe, and this is one of the mechanisms through which we see all those benefits," Ms Grey said.

Caffeine, however, can have a disruptive effect on sleep.

"I would stop drinking caffeinated coffee about eight hours before you're going to bed - so if you're going to bed at 10pm, I wouldn't have a caffeinated coffee after 2pm," she said.

Ms Grey said people who are concerned about their blood pressure should switch to decaf.

You can listen back below:

Feature image shows latte art, Alamy