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In times of crisis, there is nothing like a nice soothing cup of tea. And when we are under pressure at work, we often crave a cup of coffee.

Now, scientists may have shown why we are drawn to these drinks, the Daily Mail reports.

Portuguese research shows that caffeine protects against the effects of stress.

Mice subjected to stressful situations day in day out, quickly became anxious and lost their appetite.

They also suffered memory problems and showed signs of helplessness.

But adding caffeine to their drinking water before putting them under pressure stopped most of the symptoms from developing.

The University of Coimbra research is important because, in people, constant stress raises the odds of being diagnosed with depression.

British experts said that while they don't recommend that people under pressure knock back cup after cup of coffee, an extra coffee or two in the morning 'won't hurt.'

They hope that the research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could lead to new treatments for mental illness.

Dr Sridhar Vasudevan, of the University of Oxford, said: 'Given the dearth of new drugs in psychiatry, these results are valuable indeed.'

This research backs up previous findings that people who drank black tea had lower stress hormone levels in their bodies body.

The scientists, from University College, London, found people who drank tea were able to de-stress more quickly than those who drank a fake tea substitute.

Those who drank a black tea concoction four times a day for six weeks were also found to have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their blood after a stressful event, compared with a control group who drank a placebo.