Two to three cups of coffee may protect mental health
Mar 11th 2026
A large UK study of 461,586 adults found that drinking two to three cups of coffee per day was associated with the lowest risk of anxiety and depression, while drinking more than five cups eliminated the benefit.
- Two to three cups of coffee daily were linked to the lowest risk of developing mood and stress disorders.
- Consuming more than five cups a day removed the protective effect and high intake of ground coffee was tied to higher mood disorder risk.
- Decaffeinated coffee showed no clear association with mental health outcomes.
- The protective effect was stronger in men than in women.
- Genetic differences in caffeine metabolism did not change the association.
- Lower inflammation and changes in the kidney marker Cystatin C explained a small part of the benefit.
- The study used UK Biobank data on 461,586 adults aged 40 to 69 with about 13 years of follow up and recorded roughly 18,220 new mood disorder cases and 18,547 new stress disorder cases.
- This is an observational study limited by single baseline self-reported coffee measures, nonstandardized cup sizes, and a mostly white UK sample, so it cannot prove causation.
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- Two to three cups of coffee a day may protect your mental health www.psypost.org