Green Tea, Coffee, and Caffeine Consumption Are Inversely Associated with Self-Report Lifetime Depression in the Korean Population

Abstract

This study investigated the associations of green tea, coffee, and caffeine consumption with self-report lifetime depression in the Korean population using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In total, 9576 participants (3852 men and 5724 women) aged 19 years or older were selected for the present study. Green tea, coffee, and caffeine consumption levels were assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for depression according to green tea, coffee, and caffeine consumption. Frequent green tea consumers (≥3 cups/week) had 21% lower prevalence of depression (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.63–0.99, p for trend = 0.0101) than green tea non-consumers after adjustment for potential confounders. Likewise, frequent coffee drinkers (≥2 cups/day) had 32% lower prevalence of depression (OR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.55–0.85, p for trend = 0.0026) than coffee non-drinkers after adjustment for potential confounders. Also, participants in the highest quartile of caffeine consumption had 24% lower prevalence of depression than those in the lowest quartile (OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.62–0.92, p for trend = 0.0032). Frequent consumption of green tea, coffee, or caffeine was associated with a reduced prevalence of self-report lifetime depression in Korean adults. A prospective study and randomized clinical trials should be conducted to confirm the inverse relationships of green tea and coffee consumption with risk of depression.

Intake of Coffee Associated With Decreased Depressive Symptoms Among Elderly Japanese Women: A Multi-Center Cross-Sectional Study

“…Only one study has reported relations between coffee consumption and mental health 4 in elderly community-dwelling subjects, and a relation concerning depressive symptoms does not appear to have been investigated. In the research for the non-elderly population, evidence has accumulated indicating that consuming high amounts of coffee is associated with lower depressive symptoms [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] ; however, no association 15,16 and a positive association 17 have also been indicated. Elderly subjects might have different tendencies than non-elderly population.…”

“…Thus, the relation between coffee consumption and depressive symptoms in community-dwelling elderly women, in whom this condition is highly prevalent, remains unclear. Several studies have shown that higher amounts of green tea are related to a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms 4,8,10 or psychological distress, 18 whereas green tea was not associated with mental health. 19 Previous studies have reported significant inverse associations between green tea intake and depressive symptoms in a Japanese working population 8 and among Japanese community-dwelling elderly subjects.…”

“…The relationship between caffeine intake and depressive symptoms has been examined in Western countries, and an inverse association has been reported. 6,10,26 However, studies in Japan 8,19 showed no association between caffeine and depression 8 or mental health. 19 These inconsistent results may be because the sources of caffeine among Japanese people are different from those in Westerners.…”

Bioactive Constituents in Caffeinated and Decaffeinated Coffee and Their Effect on the Risk of Depression—A Comparative Constituent Analysis Study

“…To date, a limited number of epidemiological studies have investigated the association between individual constituents and the risk of developing depression [9,10,[20][21][22][23]. The constituents investigated were caffeine and classes of polyphenols found in coffee, including the hydroxycinnamic acids and the falvanoids [9,10,[20][21][22][23]. Mixed results have been obtained, as seen in Table 1 below, suggesting that further investigation into the potential protective nature of these compounds is needed [9,10,[20][21][22][23].…”

The science of tea’s mood-altering magic

“…Much of the evidence available comes from epidemiological studies, which generally show a positive effect on mood and cognitive function. Earlier this year, for example, researchers reported that in a healthy Korean population, those who habitually drank green tea were 21% less likely to develop depression over their lifetime than those who were non-drinkers 1 .…”