A recent study suggests that the number of coffee cups a person drinks may be linked to their risk of developing mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Published in Psychiatry Research last month, the study found that individuals who consumed two to three cups of coffee daily had a lower risk of depression and anxiety. On the other hand, those who drank more than six cups per day had a higher risk of these mental health conditions.
People who consumed one to two cups of coffee daily also had a lower risk of developing depression and anxiety, although not to the same extent as those who had two to three cups per day, according to the study.
The researchers believe that caffeine, a key component of coffee, may be the influencing factor in mental health.
The study involved 152,821 participants who responded to online mental health questionnaires as part of the U.K. Biobank dataset, which contains data from over half a million adults in the U.K.
Data on coffee consumption was gathered from online surveys conducted between 2006 and 2010, while information on mental disorders came from various sources.
Results showed that 81 percent of participants consumed coffee, with 41 percent drinking two to three cups daily, 28 percent having one cup, and the remaining participants consuming more than three cups.
The study aimed to determine whether the association between depression and anxiety was influenced by coffee variations, such as instant, ground, decaffeinated, and additives like milk, sugar, and artificial sweeteners. The results remained consistent regardless of these variations.
The study found that consuming two to three cups of ground coffee daily was linked to a reduced risk of depression and anxiety compared to not drinking coffee at all. Drinking two to three cups of instant coffee daily was associated with a reduced risk of depression but not anxiety, and consuming one to three cups of unsweetened coffee daily also reduced the risk of both conditions.
The study concluded that “moderate coffee consumption could be part of a healthy lifestyle to prevent and manage depression and anxiety in the general population.”
The researchers acknowledged that coffee consumption was self-reported and only captured at one point in time, which may not reflect long-term habits. They also noted that individuals may consume different types of coffee throughout the day, although the study classified them into one coffee type.