Research suggests coffee may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes or help you manage the disease if you’ve been diagnosed. If you begin your day with a steaming cup of joe, you could be protecting your health along with jump-starting your morning. That’s because research shows coffee may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. But how much do you need to drink to reap the potential benefits?
What the Research Says
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital conducted one of the biggest long-term studies on the relationship between coffee and type 2 diabetes in 2004. They found that the more coffee people drank, the greater the protection against diabetes.
The study followed 41,934 men for 12 years and 84,276 women for 18 years. At the beginning of the study, the participants did not have type 2 diabetes. They were asked to answer questions about their coffee-drinking habits (regular and decaffeinated) every two to four years. During that time, 1,333 new cases of type 2 diabetes were reported among the men and 4,085 cases were reported among the women.
Men who reported drinking more than six cups of regular, caffeinated coffee per day cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes in half when compared to nondrinkers of coffee. Women who reported drinking that much cut their risk by about 30 percent. Decaffeinated coffee also showed benefits, but the results were weaker.
Another study suggested that the more coffee you drink, the better. In the same year as the Harvard study, researchers in Finland, the country with the highest per capita coffee consumption in the world, found that the risk of developing diabetes appeared significantly lower in people who drank at least 10 cups a day. People who drank fewer cups of coffee had the same risk as nondrinkers.
Coffee consumption may also help people who are already living with type 2 diabetes, according to the results of an animal study published in April 2012 in the journal PLoS One, because the caffeine in the drink may protect against diabetes-related memory loss and cognitive decline. Poorly controlled diabetes is linked to memory loss, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease.
However, research also shows that the caffeine in coffee may decrease insulin sensitivity and raise blood sugar levels, so it’s important for those with diabetes to be cautious about how much coffee they drink.
What Exactly Is Brewing in Coffee?
What’s in coffee that could provide protection against type 2 diabetes? Researchers aren’t ready to label the active ingredient yet.
The Harvard study suggested that both regular and decaffeinated coffee contain magnesium and loads of antioxidants, like chlorogenic acid (one of the compounds that provide coffee’s flavor). These ingredients can improve your body’s sensitivity to insulin and may help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to the study.
Caffeine’s role in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes among coffee drinkers has been unclear. In fact, a study at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health suggests caffeine may not be a major player in stopping the disease in its tracks.
For the study, researchers followed more than 28,000 postmenopausal women for 11 years. They found that women who drank at least six cups of coffee, particularly the decaffeinated variety, had a 33 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes than nondrinkers.
SOURCE: https://www.everydayhealth.com
