Can a jolt of java chase away the blues?
Worried about grabbing that extra cup of Joe because it may not be good for you? While too much caffeine may prevent you from sleeping at night, a new study finds that a few cups of coffee a day may also prevent depression in women.
A recently released study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that women who drank caffeinated coffee were less likely to be depressed and the more they consumed the lower their risk of depression.
The research included more than 50,000 women between the ages of 30 and 55 and followed them for 10 years. Compared with women who drank little or no caffeinated coffee, those who averaged two to three cups per day were 15% less likely to develop depression, even after taking into account a wide range of factors including marital status, church or community participation, and various health measures. Drinking four cups a day was associated with a 20% lower risk of depression.
“There’s no need to start drinking coffee,” study co-author Alberto Ascherio, M.D., a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston told Health.com.” The message is that coffee is safe to drink, with no adverse effects. That’s really all that can be said.”
This is not the first study to be done on caffeine and its affects on mental health. A study of men in Finland published last year linked caffeine consumption to a lower risk of depression and suicide.
