AumaïDo Your Drinks Affect Your Mood? 2026 Study
A 2026 review of 2 million people links sugary and energy drinks to higher depression risk, while coffee went the other way. Here's what to know.
Researchers pooled data from more than 2 million people to test a question most of us rarely ask: does what you drink change how you feel? A systematic review and meta-analysis published in 2026 in the journal Depression and Anxiety looked at 59 studies across 22 countries and found that several everyday drinks were associated with higher odds of depression and anxiety. Coffee, oddly, went the other way.
Key Takeaway: A 2026 review of 59 studies and over 2 million people found sugary and energy drinks linked to higher depression risk, while coffee was linked to lower risk.
Which drinks were tied to worse mood
Sugar-sweetened beverages, soft drinks, carbonated drinks, bubble tea, energy drinks, and even artificially sweetened options were all positively associated with depression in the analysis. In plain terms, people who drank more of them tended to report more depressive symptoms or diagnoses. Bubble tea and carbonated drinks also stood out for their link to anxiety.
The pattern was stronger in some groups than others. The researchers noted that associations looked larger in studies from lower-middle-income countries and in studies involving only children and teenagers. That suggests age and context may shape how drinks and mood interact.
Stat: The review analyzed 59 studies covering 2,050,716 participants across 22 countries.
Why coffee behaved differently
Coffee was the outlier. Higher coffee intake was inversely associated with depression, meaning coffee drinkers in the pooled data tended to report lower odds of it. This fits a wider body of research linking moderate coffee consumption to mood benefits, though the reasons are still debated. Caffeine, antioxidants, and the ritual of a daily cup may all play a part.
Keep some perspective, though. The coffee finding does not mean more is always better, and it says nothing about sugary coffee drinks loaded with syrup. If you are curious about coffee's other effects, our look at whether coffee helps build muscle covers the metabolic side.
Association is not the same as cause
Here is the catch. This was an observational review, so it can show that drinks and mood travel together, not that one causes the other. Someone who feels low may reach for a sugary or caffeinated drink as a pick-me-up, which flips the arrow of cause. Diet quality, sleep, income, and physical activity could all be driving both.
The authors also rated most of the included studies as moderate quality, and self-reported drink intake is easy to misremember. So the honest read is that these are meaningful signals worth watching, not proof that switching drinks will lift your mood.
Key Takeaway: The findings show associations, not causation. Feeling low may drive drink choices just as easily as the reverse.
What this means for your daily habits
You do not need to overhaul everything. The most practical move is to notice how much of your daily liquid comes with added sugar or a caffeine jolt, since those were the drinks most often tied to lower mood. Swapping one sweetened drink for water, sparkling water, or unsweetened tea is a small, low-risk change.
Paying attention to the whole picture helps more than fixating on one drink. What you eat tracks closely with how you feel, something we explored in our piece on how diet shapes mental health. Stress management matters too, and our guide to what science says about cortisol unpacks the hype.
Logging your drinks alongside meals for a week can reveal patterns you would otherwise miss. Many people are surprised by how many sweetened or caffeinated drinks slip in between meals, and simply seeing the tally is often enough to prompt a swap.
Sources
- Nonalcoholic Beverage Consumption and the Risk of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Depression and Anxiety, 2026
- Some popular drinks were linked to depression and anxiety. Coffee was different, News-Medical, 2026
FAQ
Do sugary drinks cause depression? Not necessarily. A 2026 review of more than 2 million people found sugar-sweetened drinks were associated with higher odds of depression, but this was observational and cannot prove cause. Low mood may also push people toward sugary drinks, so the relationship likely runs both ways.
Is coffee good for your mental health? The 2026 review found higher coffee intake was linked to lower odds of depression, which aligns with earlier research on moderate coffee and mood. It does not mean unlimited coffee helps, and sugary coffee drinks were not the focus. Individual tolerance to caffeine varies widely.
Which drinks were linked to anxiety? Bubble tea and carbonated beverages stood out for their association with anxiety in the 2026 analysis. Energy drinks and sugar-sweetened beverages were mainly tied to depression. Evidence linking any drink to general stress was less consistent across the studies reviewed.
What should I drink instead? Water, sparkling water, and unsweetened tea are low-risk swaps for sweetened or energy drinks. There is no need to eliminate everything at once. Replacing one sugary drink a day is a small, sustainable change while the science on drinks and mood keeps developing.
-- Selena