The association between coffee consumption and risk of incident depression and anxiety: Exploring the benefits of moderate intake

Accumulating evidence has reported the associations of coffee consumption with physical conditions and mortality, but the associations with mental disorders were limited. The objective of this study was to examine the associations of coffee consumption with incident depression and anxiety, and to assess whether the associations differed by coffee subtypes (instant, ground, and decaffeinated coffee) or additives (milk, sugar-sweetened, and artificial-sweetened). In this prospective cohort study, we utilized data from the UK Biobank and included a total of 146,566 participants who completed the touchscreen questionnaire at baseline between 2006 and 2010. During the follow-up, incident depression and anxiety were measured in 2016 using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD)-7, respectively. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models and restricted cubic splines were used to assess the associations. Approximately 80.7% of participants reported consuming coffee, and most drank 2 to 3 cups per day (41.2%). We found J-shaped associations between coffee consumption and both incident depression and anxiety, with the lowest risk of the mental disorders occurring at around 2–3 cups per day. Results were similar for participants who drank 2–3 cups of ground coffee, milk-coffee, or unsweetened coffee. Our findings highlight that 2–3 cups of coffee consumption could be recommended as part of a healthy lifestyle to improve mental health.