Good News, Coffe Lovers!

It's no secret that one of my biggest weaknesses in life is coffee, so it's no surprise that I love finding studies that show the many benefits of caffiene.

Today's research comes from the Archives of Internal Medicine, and shows a correlation between drinking coffee and lower rates of depression among women.

Here's where the psychology enthusiast in me would like to make a quick interruption: please, please take research the media reports with a grain of salt. Journalists tend not to accurately report the implications of results because of the way they are written. There is a very big difference between cause-and-effect relationships and correlational relationships. Cause-and-effect relationships are so very rare, but there are often strong links. End rant.

I'm sure you can imagine the internal happiness dance I did while reading the article by BBC News this morning. It appears that women who drank one cup of coffee a day showed a "15% decreased risk of developing depression."  Granted, other factors may be at work here, such as getting more sleep (caffiene is a stimulant, so consuming it may prevent quality sleep),  but it's an interesting result nonetheless.  It's hard to control for other variables here, such as amount of sleep, family crises, emergencies, economic concerns, etc., which could contribute to depression rates. However, I'll take this added reason to keep drinking my cup or two (sometimes three...) a day.


Combine that with other studies which have shown among coffee drinkers  lower suicide rates, lower incidence of high blood pressure, diabetes, and being overweight, and I'm ready to brew a pot (by the way, my favorite is hazelnut coffee...and yes, I go with Free Trade coffee. Paired with a bit of Divine dark chocolate, it's a delicious Free Trade party!)

Today is a day to rejoice, my dear fellow Coffee Lovers, now quit reading this and grab a good cup o' Joe!