Caffeine Curbs Depression in Women

BOSTONThe more coffee you drink, the better youll feel, according to research from Harvard School of Public Health.

The study followed close to 51,000 women (average age, 63) from 1996 to 2006. The women, who had no depressive symptoms at the start of the study, used questionnaires to track their caffeinated coffee consumption from 1996 to 2004. After a 2-year latency period, 2,607 cases of depression were identified, based on self-reported physician-diagnosed depression and antidepressant use. Women who consumed four or more cups of caffeinated coffee per day were 20 percent less likely to be depressed than those who drank one cup or less per week. Those who drank two to three cups of caffeinated coffee a day were 15 percent less likely to develop depression.