Drink Coffee to Prevent Diabetes: Study

Your morning cuppa helps keep type-2 diabetes at bay, according to a study.  

Various studies have cited countless benefits of coffee in improving the skin, health of liver, brain and also reducing stress and depression. Researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in Boston found increasing daily intake of coffee by one and half cups reduces probability of developing type-2 diabetes and the risks associated with it.

Their study used data from past three trials conducted between 1986 and 2007 involving 124,000 people. The experts observed all participants to note the effects of drinking tea and coffee everyday for nearly four year. They regularly recorded diet, lifestyle, medical conditions and disease history of the subjects and identified nearly 7,269 cases of type-2 diabetes during the study.

It was found that participants who reported drinking a cup of coffee each day thorough the study had 11 percent lesser chances of having type-2 diabetes compared to those who never drank the beverage. Coffee lovers who drank three cups or more each day were 37 percent less likely to get diabetes

"Our findings confirm those of previous studies that showed that higher coffee consumption was associated with lower type 2 diabetes risks," Shilpa Bhupathiraju, lead author and research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at HSPH said in a news release. "Most importantly, they provide new evidence that changes in coffee consumption habit can affect type 2 diabetes risks in a relatively short period of time."

Furthermore, the study also analyzed benefits of caffeinated and decaffeinated beverage and found no association in lowering susceptibility for the disease. But, subjects who reduced their daily coffee intake by one cup had 17 percent increased risk for type-2 diabetes. Their findings revealed tea consumption played no role in preventing diabetes.

"These findings further demonstrate that, for most people, coffee may have health benefits," said Frank Hu, co- author and professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH. "But coffee is only one of many factors that influence diabetes risk. More importantly, individuals should watch their weight and be physically active."

More information is available online in Diabetologia, the Journal of European Association for the Study of Diabetes.