TEMPO.CO, Harvard - Researchers found another relieving benefit of drinking coffee daily. A latest study shows that adults who drink two to four cups of coffee per day are 50 percent less likely to commit suicide than those who don't.
The conclusion comes from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, United States. They studied the data collected from three previous researches. As the result, risk of suicide among adults who consume caffeine are lower than those who drink a little amount of coffee or do not drink coffee at all.
The researchers examined 200,000 data of men and women regarding their coffee consumption, whether the coffee contains caffeine, including tea, caffeinated soft drink, and chocolate. During the 6.5 years research, there were 277 deaths due to suicide.
"Overall, the result of our research shows that there is small additional benefit in consuming two or three cups of 400 milligrams caffeine per day," said the head of researchers Michel Lucas, as reported by Daily Mail on Friday, July 26.
To answer the question on relations of coffee consumption and the decrease of suicide risk, the researchers said the caffeine works by stimulating the center of central neurosystem and acting as a light antidepressant by increasing the production of the 'good mood' neurotransmitter on the brain, such as serotonins, dopamine, and noradrenalin.
This may explain the findings of the previous epidemiology research about the lower depression risks on the coffee consumers. However, it does not implicate that the researchers suggest depressed people to overcome their depression by increasing the caffeine consumption.
DAILY MAIL | AMIRULLAH