December 15, 2009
Drinking coffee or tea, whether they have caffeine or not, might help ward off Type 2 diabetes, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
"Despite considerable research attention, the role of specific dietary and lifestyle factors remains uncertain, although obesity and physical inactivity have consistently been reported to raise the risk of diabetes mellitus," the authors wrote. A previously published meta-analysis suggested drinking more coffee may be linked with a reduced risk, but the amount of available information has more than doubled since.
By the year 2025, approximately 380 million individuals worldwide will be affected by type 2 diabetes, according to background information in the article.
The researchers analyzed the results of a number of studies conducted on coffee and tea and their relationship to disease.
When the authors combined and analyzed the data, they found that each additional cup of coffee consumed in a day was associated with a seven percent reduction in the excess risk of diabetes. Individuals who drank three to four cups per day had an approximately 25 percent lower risk than those who drank between zero and two cups per day.
In addition, in the studies that assessed decaffeinated coffee consumption, those who drank more than three to four cups per day had about a one-third lower risk of diabetes than those who drank none. Those who drank more than three to four cups of tea had a one-fifth lower risk than those who drank no tea.
"That the apparent protective effect of tea and coffee consumption appears to be independent of a number of potential confounding variables raises the possibility of direct biological effects," the authors write. "Because of the association between decaffeinated coffee and diabetes risk, the association is unlikely to be solely related to caffeine. Other compounds in coffee and tea-including magnesium, antioxidants known as lignans or chlorogenic acids-may be involved."
