Coffee intake and lower diabetes risk
Drinking coffee, especially decaffeinated coffee, may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a report in the US based Archives of Internal Medicine.
A cocoa industry study last year suggested that coffee, a significant source of antioxidants, could protect the body against cancer and that it may be related to a reduced risk of developing the liver disease alcoholic cirrhosis.
Coffee has been linked to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in previous studies in the United States and Europe and the link appears to be consistent across different ages and body weights. While most research has found that the more coffee an individual generally drinks, the lower the risk for diabetes, it remains unclear whether it is the caffeine or another ingredient in coffee that may provide a protective effect.
The latest study by Mark A. Pereira, Ph.D. and colleagues at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, studied coffee intake and diabetes risk in 28,812 postmenopausal women in Iowa over an 11-year period.
After adjusting the data for some of the other diabetes risk factors, the study found that women who drank more than six cups of any type of coffee per day were 22% less likely than those who drank no coffee to be diagnosed with diabetes. A 33% reduction in risk was the result for those who drank more than six cups of decaffeinated coffee per day compared to those who drank none.
