Can Coffee Really Make You Happy?
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Bill Weston
Bill Weston writes on a number of subjects including evon cottages, holiday cottages Devon and self catering Devon.
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Published on 12/13/2011
Many of us can hardly start the day without a cup of coffee, and it is one of the most widely-consumed beverages in the world. There's good news for those people who like a cup of the brown stuff - a study has recently found that women who drink four cups of coffee per day are twenty per cent less likely to experience depression than those who rarely drink the stuff.
Many of us can hardly start the day without a cup of coffee, and it is one of the most widely-consumed beverages in the world. There's good news for those people who like a cup of the brown stuff - a study has recently found that women who drink four cups of coffee per day are twenty per cent less likely to experience depression than those who rarely drink the stuff. It doesn't mean that a cup of coffee will cure depression - but does ask interesting questions about how it can be used in the future.
As well as being one of the world's most-consumed beverages, coffee is also the most frequently-used central nervous system stimulant, and about 80 per cent of all caffeine is consumed in coffee. People use it to give them an energy boost, but the recent study suggests that they might also be using it as an uplift. The researchers said they were looking at "long-term chronic use of caffeinated coffee". The research was led by Alberto Ascherio of Harvard School of Public Health.
The study involved over 50, 000 women with an average age of 63, none of whom were depressed when they initially enrolled in the study. The women were classified depending on how much coffee they drank, and the results showed that those who drank more coffee were less likely to develop depression than those who rarely or never drink drank coffee.
The study concentrated on coffee, but similar results were found in reference to caffeinated soft drinks and chocolate. Women who consumed the most caffeine had a lower risk of depression. They studied the subjects over a long period of time, and left a two year latency period. A similar study in Finland showed that coffee-drinking men were less likely to commit suicide than those that did not consume coffee in such high doses.
The study does not show how coffee might be used to treat or prevent depression, but there are some signals. Other studies of animals have shown that caffeine can protect the body against neurotoxins. Receptors in the brain which respond to caffeine are mainly located in the basal ganglia region, which is also influential in depression and Parkinson's disease.
The suggestion is that low-dose, chronic stimulation of these caffeine receptors may help to make them perform more efficiently. It doesn't mean that coffee can cure depression, but that drinking it over a long period of time might help to keep depression away. More studies will follow to show whether it can be used to treat or prevent depression.
As well as being one of the world's most-consumed beverages, coffee is also the most frequently-used central nervous system stimulant, and about 80 per cent of all caffeine is consumed in coffee. People use it to give them an energy boost, but the recent study suggests that they might also be using it as an uplift. The researchers said they were looking at "long-term chronic use of caffeinated coffee". The research was led by Alberto Ascherio of Harvard School of Public Health.
The study involved over 50, 000 women with an average age of 63, none of whom were depressed when they initially enrolled in the study. The women were classified depending on how much coffee they drank, and the results showed that those who drank more coffee were less likely to develop depression than those who rarely or never drink drank coffee.
The study concentrated on coffee, but similar results were found in reference to caffeinated soft drinks and chocolate. Women who consumed the most caffeine had a lower risk of depression. They studied the subjects over a long period of time, and left a two year latency period. A similar study in Finland showed that coffee-drinking men were less likely to commit suicide than those that did not consume coffee in such high doses.
The study does not show how coffee might be used to treat or prevent depression, but there are some signals. Other studies of animals have shown that caffeine can protect the body against neurotoxins. Receptors in the brain which respond to caffeine are mainly located in the basal ganglia region, which is also influential in depression and Parkinson's disease.
The suggestion is that low-dose, chronic stimulation of these caffeine receptors may help to make them perform more efficiently. It doesn't mean that coffee can cure depression, but that drinking it over a long period of time might help to keep depression away. More studies will follow to show whether it can be used to treat or prevent depression.