Gates points out a Harvard study stating the link between coffee consumption and suicide (Gates 16). The study concludes stating that coffee consumption on a daily basis lowers the suicide risk. The study was conducted with 200000 participants in total making a comparison between coffee drinkers and the non coffee drinkers in the case of suicide cases and found that about 50 percent of the risk involved in suicide is reduced as a result of drinking two to four cups of caffeinated coffee daily. The study also makes a comparison of caffeinated and non caffeinated beverages and identifies that coffee with caffeine are most effective in reducing the suicide risk. Coffee has been proved to lower depression among women especially and the risk of suicide among women decreases by about 15 percent. The various health benefits of drinking coffee like reducing risk of Alzheimer’s disease, skin cancer, heart failure are also discussed in the Harvard study.
CBS news report reveals the findings of a study relating coffee consumption to suicide involving 208,000 people over a period of ten years. The findings reveal that about 53 percent of the people consuming coffee on a regular basis i.e. four cups a day have less chance of committing suicide. There was a 45 percent less risk in suicide among people drinking two to three cups of coffee. The researchers of the study summarize that coffee consumption daily increased the neurotransmitters and acted as anti depressants changing a person’s mood totally (CBS).
The particular mood of a person contributes significantly for a person to commit suicide. When the person is in a sad mind set and depressed mood with a big hatred to life, they tend to commit suicide. The mind set and mood of the individuals play a major role and influence the person to take the decision of suicide. The regular Coffee consumption has been proved that it changes the mood of the person totally and gives refreshment to the mind and body of the person. This brings a relief to the mind set of the person and changes the person’s mood from committing suicide. Most of the researchers believe that this effect of changing the mood as a result of drinking coffee minimizes the risk of suicide cases.
Lucas conducted a study in US involving about 44000 men and 91000 women. The data was analyzed from the questionnaires categorizing in to coffee, caffeine and decaffeinated coffee. The 277 deaths from the suicide were analyzed in the due course of the study and results revealed that the risk of suicide deaths decreased by about 71 percent for persons consuming two to four cups of coffee daily. The researchers concluded that on an average a person can drink two cups of coffee daily to minimize the risk of suicide. Whiteman discusses that Caffeine increases the production of anti depressants like dopamine, serotonin and nor adrenaline in the human body (Lucas 45). This decreases the depression levels in the human body to a considerable extent.
In the fast moving digital world, the number of people including both men and women working has gradually increased. The rise of the information technology companies has given rise to the brain work more compared to the tradition physical work based environment. This work environment is very stressful resulting in the depression of employees especially the women employees. The same condition exists in the education sector with the students left depressed as a result of the strict deadlines and work schedules. The top ranking colleges and universities expect more form the students and cause a lot of stress to the students resulting in depression. When the depression continues for a long time, the individual is forced to commit suicide with a hard mind set filled with depression. Depression was mainly related to suicide and was identified as the primary cause. Coffee drinking daily helps in reducing the depression and as a result the risk of suicide is greatly reduced. Researchers also report that coffee consumption has a stimulating effect on the nervous system of the human body affecting the brain in a direct manner.
Euro news discusses the suicide rate among coffee drinking adults based on levels of one cup, two to three cups and four cups daily. People drinking four cups daily have less risk of suicide compared to drinking a cup of coffee daily. The same study revealed that the suicide rates were higher in the case of persons drinking more than 8 cups of coffee daily (Euro News). Hence consumption of large amount of coffee can also maximize the risk of suicide attacks.
Dwyer discusses the psychiatry study relating consumption of coffee and risk of suicide among adults. The author reviews three large US studies among the coffee drinkers to assess the risk of suicide (Dwyer 2013). Coffee consumption acts as an anti depressant and induces the production of neurotransmitters. Finnish studies are focused more towards the ill effects of coffee consumption and the risk of heart failure on drinking coffee more than nine times a day. Coffee consumption must have its own limits and over consumption results in the failure of the heart and also raise the risk of suicide cases.
Consumption of coffee must be limited to a maximum of four cups daily and if this consumption exceeds then the intake of caffeine can lead to side effects like insomnia, heart attack, restlessness, muscle tremors and nervousness. Hence limited consumption of coffee is advised for a healthy body.
Withnall discusses the effect of intake of 400 mg of caffeine on a daily basis on the suicide cases. Statistically adults consuming 400 mg of Caffeine daily were 50 percent less likely in committing suicide. There are a lot of products containing caffeine content and in the study it reveals that about 80 percent of the intake of caffeine is from coffee. The drinking habits of people must not change regularly and they must strictly adhere to the regular consumption. Drinking coffee can become a self medication in the long run (Withnall 10).
Mercola discusses the ill effects of drinking coffee including causing ulcer, heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure etc. There are more serious harmful effects of coffee consumption and the author states that coffee consumption is bad for the health of the humans. Research studies have proven that regular coffee consumption increases the risk of cardio vascular diseases and illness (Mercola 2012). Coffee has certain uses including the creation of acetylcholine improving the long term memory of the individual. Coffee consumption regularly has a good effect on controlling the mood of the person by increasing the neuron production considerably. The author discusses the therapeutic benefits of drinking coffee daily including the increase in metabolism levels before performing exercise.
The ill effects of drinking coffee are toxic in the case of pregnant women and the natural compounds that exist in the caffeine are adverse to the health of the pregnant women. Most of the health benefits of the caffeine present in cocoa beans can be felt in the nutrition contents. An exact blend of flavonoids combined with cocoa beans is nutritious and healthy to the human body. Organic coffee is good for the health of the human body as it induces the nervous system and neurons in the body. Drinking organic coffee on a regular basis has proven to have less risk in the suicide cases. Another area of concern is the existence of a large number of pesticides in the coffee beans that can be harmful to the human body in various ways. Hence drinking uncontaminated coffee in the form of organic coffee is advisable. Also to be specific, consuming black organic coffee is more preferable and has a less risk of suicide cases in the long run on consumed on a daily basis. Black coffee has the stimulating effect to change the mood and regular consumption of two to four cups of black coffee reduces the risk of suicide occurrence in the individuals.
Roasted coffee beans are rich in neuro protective agents that can restore the blood levels to a considerable extent. More dark roasted coffee beans contribute directly to the weight reduction in the human body. Also studies reveal that such roasted coffee eliminates the toxins and acids from the human body. The ill effects of roasted coffee also are discussed with the risk of cancer very high on regular consumption of large proportion of dark roasted coffee (Euro News). The studies reveal both the ill effects and benefits of coffee consumption to a large extent.
Works cited
- Adam Withnall. “Coffee consumption halves the risk of suicide”. World Journal of Biological Pyschiatry. 2013
- CBS news report. “Coffee May Reduce Suicide Risk” Web MD News from Health Day. 2013. Sunday 28 July 2013 - 12am PST
- Dr. Joseph Mercola. “Ill effects of drinking coffee”. Durbin journal, 2012
- Euro news. “Drinking coffee can halve suicide risk”, Harvard study, 2010
- Honor Whiteman. “Coffee and Suicide” Medical News Today, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). 2013
- Marge Dwyer. “Coffee drinking tied to lower risk of suicide”. Harvard School of Public Health Communications. 2013.
- Michael Lucas. “Drinking coffee is linked to lower suicide rates”, The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry. 2011
- Sara Gates. “Coffee May Lower Suicide Risk By 50 Percent” Harvard Study, The Huffington Post. 2013. Posted: 07/25/2013 4:19 pm EDT
