4 ms·

Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee lower stress, depression and impulsivity

bondarchuk 4mo ago
>Participants first abstained from coffee for two weeks before being reintroduced to either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee in a blinded trial. So it could easily just be cessation of withdrawal symptoms.
- literalAardvark 4mo ago
  Only if they hadn't also tested decaf. There's clearly another factor at play.
- wk_end 4mo ago
  The sentence immediately before the one you quoted notes that there was a group of non-coffee drinkers in the study, and the sentence immediately after states that both groups experienced the positive effects.
  - sph 4mo ago
    Yes, that's how stimulants work. The first hit, after abstinence, is always the best.
    - deleted 4mo ago
      [deleted]
    - jchw 4mo ago
      Well obviously, the study could be bunk, but decaf essentially contains no stimulant, so this isn't really enough to explain the results.
      - awestroke 4mo ago
        Decaf is typically not 100% free of caffeine, and coffee contains other minor stimulants as well
        jchw 4mo ago
        Should be close enough, at most a few milligrams IIRC, certainly less than a can of coke. Does coffee actually contain any other stimulant in more than trace amounts?
      - sph 4mo ago
        It does taste very much like coffee (though it's also easy to tell it's not caffeinated) and placebo effect is real. I have been experimenting with reducing/abstaining from coffee and I am well aware of its effects, and I doubt you can reach very strong conclusions. There are times where I have experienced no headaches during my abstinence week, others where I've felt terribly, this last one during the heatwave I actually felt pretty good staying away from coffee, and I have been enjoying the slower pace of my thought. Nutritional research is, as always, as rigorous as astrology. Personally, coffee makes me much more anxious, more impulsive, more able to bruteforce through things I hate, but reduces creativity and contemplation; just like amfetamine BTW.
        jchw 4mo ago
        Sure research rigor and reproducibility are known issues but if we're gonna complain about the study design it may as well actually take into account the study design. Seems like the biggest complaint W.R.T. study design is just the lack of a good control. Seems like it makes the case for something to do with gut health but then fails to definitively stomp out the placebo effect.
    - wk_end 4mo ago
      Are you replying to the right comment? Or maybe just haven't had your morning coffee yet? ;) The point I'm making is that a non-coffee drinker won't have "withdrawal symptoms", so OP's suggestion that the beneficial effects they observed were just "cessation of withdrawal symptoms" doesn't make any sense. As in literally nonsense: "a non-coffee drinker's withdrawal symptoms" is nonsensical in the same way the idea of a square circle is.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
- butlike 4mo ago
  2 weeks isn't long enough to reduce ∆FosB expression after drug (caffeine) use. Most likely I'd say you're right; the subjects are in withdrawal and getting a dose is relaxing.
- skillina 4mo ago
  Adding caffeine pill and placebo pill groups would be interesting.
nottorp 4mo ago
Hmm is this about caffeine's effect or about going back to caffeine after abstaining from it? And is the effect chemical, or there's also something about the ritual? Has anyone compared groups that either drank coffee or took the same quantity in pills?
- Lio 4mo ago
  Well according to the abstract it related to gut health affects of the coffee not the caffeine itself. > "Our findings reveal the microbiome and neurological responses to coffee, as well as their potential long-term benefits for a healthier microbiome. Coffee may modify what microbes do collectively, and what metabolites they use. As the public continues to think about dietary changes for the right digestive balance, coffee has the potential to also be harnessed as a further intervention as part of a healthy balanced diet." That would explain why it works for decaf too. i.e. it's healthy gut, healthy mind.
  - nottorp 4mo ago
    I did some searching as well. This (unrelated to today's article) seems to say the ritual does more than just ingesting the substance: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/drinking-morning-coffee-vs-caffeine-pills-placebo-effect#What-are-the-effects-of-consuming-coffee-vs-caffeine-only https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/drinking-morning-c...
johnathan101 4mo ago
[flagged]
Arodex 4mo ago
Note that as the trial is described, the blinding was only related to the presence or not of caffeine. There wasn't any "non-coffee" placebo (something with the taste but none of the components of coffee). (Of course it is certainly difficult to make something taste like coffee while being as neutral as water. I don't even think it is possible.) As such, the improvement seen when they start drinking coffee could simply be a placebo effect. Coffee making is a nice daily ritual that helps being grounded in the present, as do sents, tastes and the feeling of a warm beverage. The study is also fairly low power, as you have 62 people in four groups: coffee drinker with caffeine, coffee drinker with decaffeinated, non-coffee drinker with caffeine, non-coffee drinker with decaffeinated. (Again, a big problem in many human studies is that it is very hard to recruit enough people, both for financial and organization reasons, so don't read this as a knock against the research team).
sph 4mo ago
"J.F.C. [the professor in question] has been an invited speaker at conferences organised by Bromotech, Yakult and Nestle and has received research funding from Nutricia, DuPont/IFF, and Nestle. G.C. has received honoraria from Janssen, Probi, Apsen, and Ingelheim Boehringer as an invited speaker; is in receipt of research funding from Pharmavite, Fonterra, Reckitt, Nestle and Tate and Lyle; and has been paid for consultancy work by Yakult, Zentiva, Bayer Healthcare and Heel Pharmaceuticals. ES has received honorarium from Janssen Sciences Ireland UC. ES also received honorarium from MyNutriWeb for an event that was sponsored by Yakult. This support neither influenced nor constrained the contents of this manuscript. The remaining authors declare no competing interests." I feel these disclaimers should be posted under every post about nutritional research that's linked on here. Not saying it proves anything in favour or not, but it's good to know who's getting paid to say what.
- RobotToaster 4mo ago
  They should be posted underneath all medical research.
Aurornis 4mo ago
Any mood or depression study without a control group is, unfortunately, useless. There is an interesting effect in mood related studies where every group usually improves on average, even if they receive only placebo. The real measure of any depression study is therefore the improvement above and beyond the control group. The effect is so predictable that it has become an easy way to produce studies showing positive effects from something: All you have to do is track some group of people and then give ALL of them your supplement, and their scores will improve. It makes great headlines because most people don’t know you could have given them sugar pills and the scores would also improve. EDIT: As another commenter pointed out, this person has an unusual long list of financial affiliations with companies that produce drink products, too. This study should probably be ignored
- RobotToaster 4mo ago
  It's almost like having someone interested in your mental health (even if only to track it) is good for it?
  - theturtlemoves 4mo ago
    You could be on to something. I mean, how many people might normally rarely get the question "How are you doing?"
    - david-gpu 4mo ago
      "I am fine, thank you. How are you?"
  - fcatalan 4mo ago
    My therapist asked me to track my binge eating episodes, empty log after a week...
    - tomrod 4mo ago
      Keep tracking and reporting to someone you trust! It can really help to know others are invested in you, whether random internet strangers encouraging you or people in your life you trust.
deanc 4mo ago
Anecdotally, multiple folks have said to me they don't drink coffee because it makes them anxious. Enough for me to take notice.
- Insanity 4mo ago
  I'll +1 that, and I'm one of those people but only if I'm already in a poor mental state. When I have something to feel anxious about (e.g, health concerns), then coffee consistently makes me feel more anxious. Although, it doesn't make me feel anxious on most days, it's really only if I already have a prior reason, it just exacerbates it.
- tokai 4mo ago
  Caffeine-induced anxiety disorder is a real thing.
- RobotToaster 4mo ago
  The journal article actually touches on that: >In CD participants, indoles such as indole-3-propionic acid (IPA) and indole-3-carboxyaldehyde (ICA) and the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) were significantly decreased. GABA is an anti-anxiety neurotransmitter, it's what benzodiazepines mimic.
- TwoFerMaggie 4mo ago
  There might also be adverse effects on one's sleep quality, even if they only drink it in the morning: > In fact, none of the sleep researchers or experts on circadian rhythms I interviewed for this story use caffeine. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jul/06/caffeine-coffee-tea-invisible-addiction-is-it-time-to-give-up https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jul/06/caffeine-coffee...
RobotToaster 4mo ago
The differences found seem more interesting: >The study also found differences in gut bacteria between coffee drinkers and non-coffee drinkers, including increases in species such as Eggertella sp and Cryptobacterium curtum, which are thought to play roles in gut function and metabolism. >Cognitive effects varied depending on coffee type: decaffeinated coffee was associated with improvements in learning and memory, while caffeinated coffee was linked to reduced anxiety, improved vigilance and attention, as well as a reduced risk of inflammation. The actual journal article has a lot more information, the clickbait headline doesn't really do it justice https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-71264-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-71264-8
butlike 4mo ago
> Both groups reported lower perceived stress, depression and impulsivity scores after coffee was reintroduced This is a terrible sentence. As I understand it, you can't "reintroduce" coffee to non-coffee drinkers.
bluGill 4mo ago
Is this real, or is this a green jelly bean - https://xkcd.com/882/ https://xkcd.com/882/. Since most Americans (likely including you, though in some countries tea is more popular) are addicted to coffee they like to boost anything that makes their addiction seem like a good thing.
antirez 4mo ago
I love coffee, I take 2 to 3 every day (Italian espresso, so very short, little total caffeine), however for some reason taking the decaffeinated one in the evening interferes with my sleep in a similar way than the caffeinated one. Any hint?
dherikb 4mo ago
I've never been a fan of coffee, but I liked drinking it, but more out of habit than desire, and always at work (rarely at home). Years ago I started to notice terrible headaches on the weekends, and only after a long time did I manage to understand that coffee withdrawal was the cause. For me the conclusion was obvious: I will no longer take something that affects my body at this level. I have the same problem with Coke/Pepsi, I stopped taking it too. Fun fact: on the same day I noticed and stopped taking it coffee, 5 days later I had terrible muscle pain in my lower back (I could hardly sleep). 2 days later I had no more pain. I researched later and saw that this type of pain could also be caused as an effect of caffeine withdrawal.
ReenD 3mo ago
[flagged]

>Participants first abstained from coffee for two weeks before being reintroduced to either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee in a blinded trial. So it could easily just be cessation of withdrawal symptoms.

literalAardvark 4mo ago
Only if they hadn't also tested decaf. There's clearly another factor at play.
wk_end 4mo ago
The sentence immediately before the one you quoted notes that there was a group of non-coffee drinkers in the study, and the sentence immediately after states that both groups experienced the positive effects.
- sph 4mo ago
  Yes, that's how stimulants work. The first hit, after abstinence, is always the best.
  - deleted 4mo ago
    [deleted]
  - jchw 4mo ago
    Well obviously, the study could be bunk, but decaf essentially contains no stimulant, so this isn't really enough to explain the results.
    - awestroke 4mo ago
      Decaf is typically not 100% free of caffeine, and coffee contains other minor stimulants as well
      - jchw 4mo ago
        Should be close enough, at most a few milligrams IIRC, certainly less than a can of coke. Does coffee actually contain any other stimulant in more than trace amounts?
    - sph 4mo ago
      It does taste very much like coffee (though it's also easy to tell it's not caffeinated) and placebo effect is real. I have been experimenting with reducing/abstaining from coffee and I am well aware of its effects, and I doubt you can reach very strong conclusions. There are times where I have experienced no headaches during my abstinence week, others where I've felt terribly, this last one during the heatwave I actually felt pretty good staying away from coffee, and I have been enjoying the slower pace of my thought. Nutritional research is, as always, as rigorous as astrology. Personally, coffee makes me much more anxious, more impulsive, more able to bruteforce through things I hate, but reduces creativity and contemplation; just like amfetamine BTW.
      - jchw 4mo ago
        Sure research rigor and reproducibility are known issues but if we're gonna complain about the study design it may as well actually take into account the study design. Seems like the biggest complaint W.R.T. study design is just the lack of a good control. Seems like it makes the case for something to do with gut health but then fails to definitively stomp out the placebo effect.
  - wk_end 4mo ago
    Are you replying to the right comment? Or maybe just haven't had your morning coffee yet? ;) The point I'm making is that a non-coffee drinker won't have "withdrawal symptoms", so OP's suggestion that the beneficial effects they observed were just "cessation of withdrawal symptoms" doesn't make any sense. As in literally nonsense: "a non-coffee drinker's withdrawal symptoms" is nonsensical in the same way the idea of a square circle is.
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
butlike 4mo ago
2 weeks isn't long enough to reduce ∆FosB expression after drug (caffeine) use. Most likely I'd say you're right; the subjects are in withdrawal and getting a dose is relaxing.
skillina 4mo ago
Adding caffeine pill and placebo pill groups would be interesting.

nottorp 4mo ago

Hmm is this about caffeine's effect or about going back to caffeine after abstaining from it? And is the effect chemical, or there's also something about the ritual? Has anyone compared groups that either drank coffee or took the same quantity in pills?

Lio 4mo ago
Well according to the abstract it related to gut health affects of the coffee not the caffeine itself. > "Our findings reveal the microbiome and neurological responses to coffee, as well as their potential long-term benefits for a healthier microbiome. Coffee may modify what microbes do collectively, and what metabolites they use. As the public continues to think about dietary changes for the right digestive balance, coffee has the potential to also be harnessed as a further intervention as part of a healthy balanced diet." That would explain why it works for decaf too. i.e. it's healthy gut, healthy mind.
- nottorp 4mo ago
  I did some searching as well. This (unrelated to today's article) seems to say the ritual does more than just ingesting the substance: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/drinking-morning-coffee-vs-caffeine-pills-placebo-effect#What-are-the-effects-of-consuming-coffee-vs-caffeine-only https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/drinking-morning-c...

johnathan101 4mo ago

[flagged]

Arodex 4mo ago

Note that as the trial is described, the blinding was only related to the presence or not of caffeine. There wasn't any "non-coffee" placebo (something with the taste but none of the components of coffee). (Of course it is certainly difficult to make something taste like coffee while being as neutral as water. I don't even think it is possible.) As such, the improvement seen when they start drinking coffee could simply be a placebo effect. Coffee making is a nice daily ritual that helps being grounded in the present, as do sents, tastes and the feeling of a warm beverage. The study is also fairly low power, as you have 62 people in four groups: coffee drinker with caffeine, coffee drinker with decaffeinated, non-coffee drinker with caffeine, non-coffee drinker with decaffeinated. (Again, a big problem in many human studies is that it is very hard to recruit enough people, both for financial and organization reasons, so don't read this as a knock against the research team).

sph 4mo ago

"J.F.C. [the professor in question] has been an invited speaker at conferences organised by Bromotech, Yakult and Nestle and has received research funding from Nutricia, DuPont/IFF, and Nestle. G.C. has received honoraria from Janssen, Probi, Apsen, and Ingelheim Boehringer as an invited speaker; is in receipt of research funding from Pharmavite, Fonterra, Reckitt, Nestle and Tate and Lyle; and has been paid for consultancy work by Yakult, Zentiva, Bayer Healthcare and Heel Pharmaceuticals. ES has received honorarium from Janssen Sciences Ireland UC. ES also received honorarium from MyNutriWeb for an event that was sponsored by Yakult. This support neither influenced nor constrained the contents of this manuscript. The remaining authors declare no competing interests." I feel these disclaimers should be posted under every post about nutritional research that's linked on here. Not saying it proves anything in favour or not, but it's good to know who's getting paid to say what.

RobotToaster 4mo ago
They should be posted underneath all medical research.

Aurornis 4mo ago

Any mood or depression study without a control group is, unfortunately, useless. There is an interesting effect in mood related studies where every group usually improves on average, even if they receive only placebo. The real measure of any depression study is therefore the improvement above and beyond the control group. The effect is so predictable that it has become an easy way to produce studies showing positive effects from something: All you have to do is track some group of people and then give ALL of them your supplement, and their scores will improve. It makes great headlines because most people don’t know you could have given them sugar pills and the scores would also improve. EDIT: As another commenter pointed out, this person has an unusual long list of financial affiliations with companies that produce drink products, too. This study should probably be ignored

RobotToaster 4mo ago
It's almost like having someone interested in your mental health (even if only to track it) is good for it?
- theturtlemoves 4mo ago
  You could be on to something. I mean, how many people might normally rarely get the question "How are you doing?"
  - david-gpu 4mo ago
    "I am fine, thank you. How are you?"
- fcatalan 4mo ago
  My therapist asked me to track my binge eating episodes, empty log after a week...
  - tomrod 4mo ago
    Keep tracking and reporting to someone you trust! It can really help to know others are invested in you, whether random internet strangers encouraging you or people in your life you trust.

deanc 4mo ago

Anecdotally, multiple folks have said to me they don't drink coffee because it makes them anxious. Enough for me to take notice.

Insanity 4mo ago
I'll +1 that, and I'm one of those people but only if I'm already in a poor mental state. When I have something to feel anxious about (e.g, health concerns), then coffee consistently makes me feel more anxious. Although, it doesn't make me feel anxious on most days, it's really only if I already have a prior reason, it just exacerbates it.
tokai 4mo ago
Caffeine-induced anxiety disorder is a real thing.
RobotToaster 4mo ago
The journal article actually touches on that: >In CD participants, indoles such as indole-3-propionic acid (IPA) and indole-3-carboxyaldehyde (ICA) and the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) were significantly decreased. GABA is an anti-anxiety neurotransmitter, it's what benzodiazepines mimic.
TwoFerMaggie 4mo ago
There might also be adverse effects on one's sleep quality, even if they only drink it in the morning: > In fact, none of the sleep researchers or experts on circadian rhythms I interviewed for this story use caffeine. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jul/06/caffeine-coffee-tea-invisible-addiction-is-it-time-to-give-up https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jul/06/caffeine-coffee...

RobotToaster 4mo ago

The differences found seem more interesting: >The study also found differences in gut bacteria between coffee drinkers and non-coffee drinkers, including increases in species such as Eggertella sp and Cryptobacterium curtum, which are thought to play roles in gut function and metabolism. >Cognitive effects varied depending on coffee type: decaffeinated coffee was associated with improvements in learning and memory, while caffeinated coffee was linked to reduced anxiety, improved vigilance and attention, as well as a reduced risk of inflammation. The actual journal article has a lot more information, the clickbait headline doesn't really do it justice https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-71264-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-71264-8

butlike 4mo ago

> Both groups reported lower perceived stress, depression and impulsivity scores after coffee was reintroduced This is a terrible sentence. As I understand it, you can't "reintroduce" coffee to non-coffee drinkers.

bluGill 4mo ago

Is this real, or is this a green jelly bean - https://xkcd.com/882/ https://xkcd.com/882/. Since most Americans (likely including you, though in some countries tea is more popular) are addicted to coffee they like to boost anything that makes their addiction seem like a good thing.

antirez 4mo ago

I love coffee, I take 2 to 3 every day (Italian espresso, so very short, little total caffeine), however for some reason taking the decaffeinated one in the evening interferes with my sleep in a similar way than the caffeinated one. Any hint?

dherikb 4mo ago

I've never been a fan of coffee, but I liked drinking it, but more out of habit than desire, and always at work (rarely at home). Years ago I started to notice terrible headaches on the weekends, and only after a long time did I manage to understand that coffee withdrawal was the cause. For me the conclusion was obvious: I will no longer take something that affects my body at this level. I have the same problem with Coke/Pepsi, I stopped taking it too. Fun fact: on the same day I noticed and stopped taking it coffee, 5 days later I had terrible muscle pain in my lower back (I could hardly sleep). 2 days later I had no more pain. I researched later and saw that this type of pain could also be caused as an effect of caffeine withdrawal.

ReenD 3mo ago

[flagged]