HEALTHY DRINK Dark secret: Coffee helps beat the blues

London: It's now official: Coffee is good for you, as its mood-boosting effect could well be lasting far longer than we realize, says a new Harvard University study. 

    The study, which compared the coffee intake and risk of depression amongst nearly 51,000 women over 10 years, found that those who drink four or more cups a day are a fifth less likely to become depressed. 
    And those who drink between two or three cups a day cut their risk by 15%, found the study, published in the Journal of American Medicine Association. Though the study did not look at men, other studies have already found that it has a similar effect. 
    The Harvard scientists believe that caffeine works like antidepressant pills by stopping the production of certain hormones such as serotonin. They also said it improves our feelings of well-being and gives us more energy over long periods. "Our results support a protective effect of caffeine, mainly from coffee consumption, on risk of depression," study author Michel Lucas, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. 
    "Further investigations are needed to confirm this finding and to determine whether usual caffeinated coffee consumption may contribute to prevention or treatment of depression," he added. It has been found that coffee had the strongest influence reducing depression, but the decaf variety didn't work at all. PTI