In a 10 year study from 1996 – 2006, the Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, and Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital has determined that an increase of caffeine consumption offers a lower risk for depression in women.

The study goes on to state:

During 10 years of follow-up (1996-2006), 2607 incident cases of depression were identified. Compared with women consuming 1 or less cup of caffeinated coffee per week, the multivariate relative risk of depression was 0.85 (95% confidence interval, 0.75-0.95) for those consuming 2 to 3 cups per day and 0.80 (0.64-0.99; P for trend

Concluding:

In this large longitudinal study, we found that depression risk decreases with increasing caffeinated coffee consumption. Further investigations are needed to confirm this finding and to determine whether usual caffeinated coffee consumption can contribute to depression prevention.

Photo courtesy of Tetra Pak