{"id":537159,"date":"2026-03-21T18:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T18:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/537159\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T18:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T18:08:11","slug":"giant-study-may-have-found-the-ideal-amount-of-coffee-to-lower-stress-sciencealert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/537159\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant Study May Have Found The Ideal Amount of Coffee to Lower Stress : ScienceAlert"},"content":{"rendered":"

A coffee<\/a> hit might be more commonly associated with increased alertness, but a new study shows that it could also help lower the risks of developing anxiety and depression<\/a> \u2013 and there’s actually a sweet spot when it comes to how much to drink to get the best effect.<\/p>\n

Researchers from Fudan University in China wanted to build on inconclusive findings from past studies<\/a> to investigate whether or not coffee consumption could be protective against developing mood and stress disorders.<\/p>\n

They tapped into a huge amount of data: records of 461,586 individuals, all in good mental health at the start of the study period, who were followed for a median of 13.4 years. Self-reported coffee intake was charted against future health diagnoses.<\/p>\n

The statistical number-crunching showed that those who drank two to three cups of coffee<\/a> a day were the least likely to develop mental health problems, compared to people who didn’t drink coffee at all or who drank more than three cups.<\/p>\n

At the top end of the scale, drinking five cups or more each day was associated with a higher risk of mood disorders \u2013 so it seems it is possible to overdo the buzz.<\/p>\n

“J-shaped associations were identified between coffee consumption and mental disorders, suggesting that a moderate intake of coffee might be beneficial for mental health,” write<\/a> the researchers in their published paper.<\/p>\n

This J-shaped relationship stayed consistent across coffee types \u2013 ground, instant, and even decaffeinated \u2013 and the benefits of coffee consumption<\/a> were higher for men compared to women.<\/p>\n

\"DisorderThere was a J-shaped association for both mood and stress disorders. (Song et al., J. Affect. Disord., 2026)<\/p>\n

The researchers were careful to allow for multiple contributing factors, including age, education, exercise habits<\/a>, and relevant underlying health conditions \u2013 increasing the likelihood that it was the coffee consumption making the difference.<\/p>\n

However, the study stops short of proving cause and effect. The participants were only asked about their coffee drinking habits<\/a> once, at the start of the study period, and this wasn’t monitored over time.<\/p>\n

The researchers ran a genetic analysis too, identifying individuals in the study whose genes suggested they would be better or worse at metabolizing caffeine<\/a> (processing it through the body). However, these genetic subtypes didn’t really move the needle on the associations.<\/p>\n

We know that coffee contains many different bioactive compounds, and the researchers think that some of these may be having a calming and anti-inflammatory effect on brain circuits linked to mood and stress. Similar processes could be protecting the brain from disease, past studies<\/a> suggest.<\/p>\n

While the researchers didn’t measure any brain effects directly, the findings provide some useful new clues about the effects of coffee on the brain \u2013 and some much-needed clarity.<\/p>\n

\"Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n

“Previous studies examining the association between coffee consumption and mental health, specifically depression and anxiety, have yielded inconsistent results regarding the direction of associations or the optimal daily intake,” write<\/a> the researchers.<\/p>\n

“These discrepancies may be partially explained by methodological heterogeneity, including differences in study design, sample size, and population characteristics.”<\/p>\n

Previous research has linked coffee to a longer life<\/a>, protection against heart disease<\/a>, and improved body weight regulation<\/a>, so it’s already associated with multiple physical health benefits \u2013 and now we may be able to add mental ones to the list.<\/p>\n

With mental health conditions<\/a> becoming more and more prevalent, there’s a real urgency behind the search for treatments and preventative measures to combat stress and anxiety. Simple solutions, like a daily cup of coffee or three, could benefit millions.<\/p>\n

Related: Play Can Make Adults Feel Happier And Less Stressed, Research Shows<\/a><\/p>\n

“Over the past decade, mental disorders have increasingly gained recognition as one of the most important disease burdens to global public health,” write<\/a> the researchers.<\/p>\n

“Therefore, potential preventative strategies are needed to develop for curbing the pandemic<\/a> of mental health disorders.”<\/p>\n

The research has been published in the Journal of Affective Disorders<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A coffee hit might be more commonly associated with increased alertness, but a new study shows that it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[97,1352],"class_list":["post-537159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-msft-content"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}