The everyWoman Blog: Don’t Worry, Drink Coffee: Greater Caffeine Consumption Tied to Less Depression Risk

Taken from here.

That’s the gist of a new report appearing in the Archives of Internal Medicine—depression risk decreases with increasing caffeinated coffee consumption.

The study, which prospectively followed 50,739 women over more than two decades, measured coffee consumption and cases of clinical depression. Depression was defined as having a diagnosis of clinical depression and being prescribed regular antidepressants during the previous two years. The women who consumed 2 to 3 cups of caffeinated coffee per day were 15 percent less likely to suffer from depression than those who consumed one of less cups of coffee daily; for women who consumed four or more cups daily, the risk was 20% less.

Why? Researchers aren’t sure—and they’re careful to stress that their study only suggests the possibility of coffee’s mood protective effect; it doesn’t prove one necessarily stems from the other. Maybe people who are less depressed also tend to drink more coffee because they’re more active (that’s my completely unsubstantiated thought, not the researchers’). Or, as psychiatrist Winston Chung from the San Francisco Chronicle points out, “increased coffee consumption could be linked to a host of socio-demographic or nutritional factors that may be protective against depression but not adjusted for in this study.”

But coffee—as much as we tend to forget it—is a stimulant that affects the central nervous system, and as such, it’s not completely surprising that it could have an effect on clinical depression. After all, we drink coffee not just to literally keep us awake but also to perk us up, help us focus and improve our general mood throughout the day. Like cocaine and amphetamines, caffeine has been shown to induce the release of dopamine and glutamate in the brain. And coffee has also been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties, Chung notes, while there’s some evidence showing depression to be an inflammatory disease.

The researchers also asked about other health and lifestyle behaviors of subjects, finding regular coffee drinkers were also more likely to smoke and drink alcohol, but less likely to be obese or have high blood pressure or cholesterol levels.

Dr. Alberto Ascherio, senior author of the study, said at least the research should ease concerns among female coffee addicts. Thanks, doc!

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