Coffee and diabetes type 2? Yes, drinking tea or coffee could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. This is according to a review of eighteen (18) studies that covered approximately four hundred and sixty thousand (460,000) people.
Earlier studies had shown that people who drank the most coffee were one-third less likely to develop diabetes than those who drank the least.
In the years since the first studies the amount of research on diabetes risk and coffee has more than doubled. Other studies have suggested that tea and decaffeinated coffee may also be effective in preventing diabetes.
The research also found that for every additional cup of coffee a person consumed each day reduces the risk of diabetes by 7 percent.
In the six studies that looked at decaffeinated coffee, the researchers found that people who consumed more than three or four cups a day were at thirty six percent (36%) lower risk of diabetes.
In further studies which examine the link between tea drinking and diabetes risk found that people who drank more than three (3) or four (4) cups daily were at eighteen percent (18%) lower diabetes risk.
Possible explanation of the benefits could be:
The fact that the effects were seen with decaffeinated as well as coffee and tea suggest that if the effects are real, they aren’t just due to caffeine.
The benefits could be related to effect of other substances found in these beverages for example magnesium, lignans (oestrogen-like chemicals found in plants), or chlorogenic acids. These substances are antioxidants that slow the release of sugar into the blood after a meal.
Conclusion:
Further clinical trials are definitely needed to investigate whether these beverages do indeed help prevent diabetes.
If these benefits are found to be real – health care providers might begin advising patients at risk from diabetes not only to exercise and lose weight, but to capitalize on the secret link between drinking more tea and coffee and lowering the risk of diabetes – by drinking more coffee and tea. So I guess drink more coffee and diabetes type 2 risks will be lowered.
Reference:
Lead researcher Rachel Huxley of the University of Sydney in Australia
Sources: health.asiaone.com; activeyou.co.uk. The study is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. [archinte.ama-assn.org]
