Coffee linked with lower depression risk in women

CHICAGO (REUTERS) - Women who drink four cups of coffee a day are 20 per cent less likely to become depressed than women who rarely drink coffee, United States researchers said on Monday.

Caffeine is the most frequently used central nervous system stimulant in the world, and coffee consumption accounts for about 80 per cent of caffeine use.

Drinking coffee offers a boost of energy and a lift in well being, said Alberto Ascherio of Harvard Harvard School of Public Health.

'This short-term effect is what drives the consumption of caffeine,' said Mr Ascherio, whose study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.