How Coffee Can Manage Stress

 

This may be a surprise, but according to recent studies, coffee could help you handle stress, and depression better.

Reduced Suicide Risk

Just two cups of coffee could help you with depression. People who drank two cups of coffee reduced suicide up to 50 percent, Harvard University found in a 2012 study.

Feel Good

Coffee affects the neotransmitters in the brain that produce the good feelings from an increase of serotonin, and dopamine.

Protection

Researchers also found that drinking coffee can protect against diabetes, and slows down Alzheimer's.

Reduces Blood Pressure

Coffee intake can also help blood pressure during times of stress in a 2005 study. People who already consumed coffee regularly saw their blood pressure stabilized during tough times, and explained a calming affect than those who were non-coffee drinkers.

Aroma of Coffee

Just smelling the aroma of coffee can have a calming effect Seoul National University found in a study in 2008. The coffee-sniffing sleep-deprived rats showed different levels of activity in 17 genes in the brain, and the levels of some proteins also changed in ways that could have a calming effect on stress or have antioxidant function on rats.

Calming

It has been found that coffee can also calm your muscles, and let the mind slow down when you relax with a brew.

Corine Gatti is a Senior Editor at Beliefnet.com.