Go ahead, have another cup of coffee. A new study suggests that increasing your coffee consumption might actually lower your risk of developing diabetes.
In the latest research to report on health benefits associated with coffee consumption, scientists looked at data on more than 120,000 adults in three large, long-running studies. They documented 7,269 cases in which participants developed type 2 diabetes. People who increased their coffee intake by more than one eight-ounce cup per day over a four-year period were 11% less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes during the subsequent four years. But those who decreased their coffee consumption by more than a cup were at 17% greater risk of type-2 diabetes.
Many observational studies suggest that drinking coffee is associated with a slightly lower risk of type 2 diabetes, says Jeffrey B. Blumberg, PhD, director of Tufts HNRCA Antioxidants Research Laboratory. Research points to this putative benefit as deriving from coffee polyphenols, particularly chlorogenic acid, but we dont know the impact of increasing or decreasing their intake over measured periods of time.
When looking at people who decreased their coffee intake, he adds, its important to consider the reasons for this change and what beverages they substituted.
NOT JUST CAFFEINE: Shilpa N. Bhupathiraju, a research fellow at Harvard University who earned her PhD from Tufts Friedman School, and colleagues published their results in the journal Diabetologia. They also looked at changes in tea consumption and found no similar association with type 2 diabetes risk; other research, however, suggests a benefit of overall tea consumption against type 2 diabetes.
Its not the caffeine in the coffee, Bhupathiraju commented, noting that effects on glucose metabolism have previously been found in studies of decaffeinated coffee. We know that. But coffee has a lot of antioxidants and other bioactive compounds.
She added that drinking more coffee is not a substitute for an overall healthy lifestyle in preventing diabetes. If youre going to eat a doughnut and smoke while having coffee, it wont help.
Dosing your latte with loads of caloric sweeteners, full-fat dairy or additions like caramel would cancel out any health benefits, as well.