Coffee Fights Depression!

It is a great day, America! Coffee, the nectar of the morning, has yet another benefit thanks to science. We already know that coffee reduces oral cancer risk and extends our lifespan. A new research study out of the Harvard School of Public Health shows that it can reduce depression and substantially reduce the risk of suicide.

This research was based on a very large pool of participants. They studied data from more than 43,000 men and 160,000 women over more than 10 years. That's a lot of coffee! The results were recently published in The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry.

The people who were studied in this research consumed their caffeine through coffee, tea and other cold beverages. Coffee was, by far, the most popular beverage, though, with a nearly 80% share.

The results are amazing. People in the study who drank at least 2 cups of coffee a day had half the incidence of suicide, compared to people who did not drink coffee. Yes, that’s a 50% lowered risk of suicide.

Juan Valdez, patron saint of coffee

The study did not find that drinking 4 cups of coffee affected suicide rates differently than only 2 cups a day. In fact, a different study from Finland found that people who drank 8 or 9 cups of coffee a day actually had a higher rate of suicide. So you CAN have too much of a good thing.

So chalk up yet another benefit to that morning pot of joe. Thank you Juan Valdez!