The Harvard study published in the World Journal of Biological Psychiatry shows that by drinking several cups of coffee a day the risk of suicide in men and women is reduced by 50 percent.
Caffeine acts as a mild antidepressant and stimulates the central nervous system by boosting certain neurotransmitters in the brain like dopamine and serotonin. These boosts could explain the lower risks of depression and suicide.
“Unlike previous investigations, we were able to assess association of consumption of caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages, and we identify caffeine as the most likely candidate of any putative protective effect of coffee,” said lead researcher Michel Lucas, research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health.
The suicide risk for those that drank two to four cups of coffee a day was half that of those who drank no coffee.
