May your morning coffee give you the strength… To make it to mid-day coffee!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
In the morning, caffeine’s our best friend! Just a whiff brings joy to coffee lovers. Could it even go so far as to help with depression?
Enter Ngoc Minh Pham and team from the Japanese National Center for Global Health and Medicine.
Researchers gave over five hundred working men and women surveys about caffeine intake and mood. They asked about participants’ diet… caffeine or green tea intake… and physical and mental health. Researchers then compared how depressed participants felt.
Results? Participants who drank more coffee and green tea had fewer depressive symptoms!
Scientists believe that caffeine increases antioxidants and serotonin – the happiness hormone! In the future, caffeine might be used in depression treatments! For now, coffee and green tea lovers can keep enjoying these beverages!
So let’s get this par-TEA started! Anyone wanna do shots? Of Espresso, of course!!
Reference:
Pham, N., Nanri, A., Kurotani, K., Kuwahara, K., Kume, A., Sato, M., Hayabuchi, H., Mizoue, T. (2014). Green tea and coffee consumption is inversely associated with depressive symptoms in a Japanese working population. Public Health Nutrition, 17(3), 625-633. doi:10.1017/S1368980013000360