Coffee helps to combat depression in women

Joe Elvin

03/10/2011 09:28:33

Coffee can help stave off depression in women, according to a new study.

Research from the Harvard Public School of Health has suggested that women who drink at least four cups a day are 20 per cent less likely to suffer from the condition.

The team of scientists came to their conclusion by analysing the mental health and coffee consumption of over 50,000 women over 14 years.

In order to ensure they weren’t just capturing women who were too depressed to drink coffee in the first place, the team built a two-year latency period in order to ensure between caffeine consumption. Ultimately, they found that the top fifth of coffee drinkers were far less likely to develop depression than the rest of the sample group.  

Speaking to The Guardian, the authors of the study indicated that their research makes a great case for buying a cappuccino machine for the home or workplace. 

An evaluative statement from the team said: “In this large longitudinal study, we found that depression risk decreases with increasing caffeinated coffee consumption. Further investigations are needed to confirm this finding and to determine whether usual caffeinated coffee consumption can contribute to depression.”

According to Reuters, the scientists discovered that other caffeinated treats such as chocolate and energy drinks brought similar results for the sample audience.