Coffee linked with lower depression risk in women

[tawadi]

Source: reuters

Coffee linked with lower depression risk in women

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO | Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:01pm EDT

(Reuters) - Women who drink four cups of coffee a day are 20 percent less likely to become depressed than women who rarely drink coffee, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Caffeine is the most frequently used central nervous system stimulant in the world, and coffee consumption accounts for about 80 percent of caffeine use.

Drinking coffee offers a boost of energy and a lift in well being, said Alberto Ascherio of Harvard School of Public Health.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/27/us-coffee-depression-idUSTRE78Q3GK20110927

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I have my own theories on the correlation, including women who "stay on the go" and lead active lives. Nevertheless, interesting study.

edit to correct title.

[hedgehog]

1. OTOH, maybe depressed women don't drink coffee because

they are already dealing with insomnia.......

[tawadi]

2. Good point, there, too. eom

[zazen]

4. or because it triggers a bipolar cycle n/t

[InvisibleTouch]

3. Ha! I should show this to my significant other.

He's always on my case because he thinks coffee is bad for me.

[WhiteTara]

8. I'm on my way in to show mine now!

He thinks I drink way too much!

[harmonicon]

14. Why does he think that?

This seems kind of speculative, but coffee has many other well documented medical benefits. Raised by mormons or something?

[InvisibleTouch]

19. No ... he's actually not totally wrong...

...because it does have some negative effects on me. But I'm too addicted to it to give up the benefits. :)

[No Elephants]

15. He may be right, depending on who funded the study.

[LiberalEsto]

5. Didn't work for my mother

I don't drink coffee, and I'm still depressed. Must be the 2 years, 1 months of unemployment.

[valerief]

6. So is it the caffeine or the coffee???? Does decaf work???? nt

[tawadi]

7. "There was no correlation found between decaf and depression risk"

source: http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/09/depression_caffeine_decreased.php

[valerief]

9. It just bugs me that the article says "coffee" when they mean "caffeine". nt

[pitohui]

10. well coffee is the best tasting caffeine delivery system

altho in a pinch on a trail in the middle of nowhere i am just as guilty of resorting to "no doz" as anyone else

[valerief]

11. Soda has caffeine, too. It always bugs me, too, when articles say 'salt' when they mean 'sodium'. nt

[pitohui]

12. soda does not taste as good as coffee

and it takes up more space in the backpack not to taste as good :-)

altho of course you are correct in scientific, technical sense, we shouldn't have to read past all this poor reporting and sloppy writing

[Honeycombe8]

13. I read a study that said coffee drinkers perform better on morning tests,

presumably not long after drinking coffee.

I love me some java in the morning! Love it love it love it. I don't plan on ever giving it up. It does stain your teeth, though.

[No Elephants]

17. If you don't "nurse" your coffee a long time and brush your teeth right after you

finish your coffee, you'll cut down staining.

And, if you take it with milk or cream, try gradually lightening your coffee a bit more until it is as light as it can be and still taste good to you.

I once tried drinking it with a straw, but keeping a liquid off your teeth is still very hard. And you enjoy it less, mayber because it hits fewer of your taste buds?

[Honeycombe8]

20. Thanks for the tips! I will try those, really. Except for the straw...

I wouldn't like drinking a hot liquid through a straw. I've tried using a straw to drink diet Coke, to keep acid off my teeth. I only occasionally do it...like you say, it doesn't taste quite the same. I don't know why.

[No Elephants]

16. True, Tawadi. The cause and effect assumptions of studies often seem dicey to me.

However, I am always glad when i see a study that suggests physiological causes of depression.

For years the only premise seemed to be that women's emotional states caused their physical illnesses and rarely that a physiological thing or things were causing their emotional states.

In fact, I tried to discuss that with an older nurse about 15 years ago and I had to say it over and over because all she could "hear" was that the "mind-body connection" automatically means the mind is ruling the body and not vice versa. And, when she did get it, she said, "That would be quite a leap."

Even the term "mind-body connection" is a little silly, IMO, given a mind appears nowhere on a chart of the human body and, if you try to "unconnect" a brain from a body, you'll learn they are already very connected, thank you.

[MadinMo]

18. I knew coffee was a wonderful thing!