Thursday, August 03, 2006
DIABETES ARTICLES - Diabetes Prevention in a Cuppa Joe?
DIABETES ARTICLES
Diabetes Prevention in a Cuppa Joe?
Drinking coffee is linked to a reduced risk for diabetes, a new study reports, and caffeine apparently has little to do with the effect.
The researchers, led by Mark A. Pereira, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, studied the dietary habits of more than 28,000 postmenopausal women. They found that those who drank six or more cups of regular or decaffeinated coffee a day had a 33 percent reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, compared with those who drank none. Those with intermediate levels of coffee intake tended to have intermediate diabetes risk. Over the period of the study, from 1986 to 1997, 1,418 women developed the illness.
Coffee drinking was also associated with eating less fruit and more high-fat dairy products, higher alcohol and cigarette consumption, high blood pressure and a lower level of vigorous exercise, some of which are known risk factors for diabetes. When adjusted for these lifestyle factors, the link with a reduced risk for diabetes was weaker but still present, and the association was stronger for decaffeinated than caffeinated coffee.
"The thing about coffee that sets it apart from many other dietary factors that may protect against diabetes is that people consume a lot of it," Dr. Pereira said. "We can see the effect because we're able to study massive doses of it."
The authors acknowledge that their study, which appeared yesterday in The Archives of Internal Medicine, depends on self-reports rather than objective experimental design.
The scientists were unable to determine what ingredient in coffee might be protective against diabetes, but they pointed out that coffee was known to be a rich source of minerals and antioxidants that may delay or prevent the onset of the illness.
Diabetes Prevention in a Cuppa Joe?
Drinking coffee is linked to a reduced risk for diabetes, a new study reports, and caffeine apparently has little to do with the effect.
The researchers, led by Mark A. Pereira, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, studied the dietary habits of more than 28,000 postmenopausal women. They found that those who drank six or more cups of regular or decaffeinated coffee a day had a 33 percent reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, compared with those who drank none. Those with intermediate levels of coffee intake tended to have intermediate diabetes risk. Over the period of the study, from 1986 to 1997, 1,418 women developed the illness.
Coffee drinking was also associated with eating less fruit and more high-fat dairy products, higher alcohol and cigarette consumption, high blood pressure and a lower level of vigorous exercise, some of which are known risk factors for diabetes. When adjusted for these lifestyle factors, the link with a reduced risk for diabetes was weaker but still present, and the association was stronger for decaffeinated than caffeinated coffee.
"The thing about coffee that sets it apart from many other dietary factors that may protect against diabetes is that people consume a lot of it," Dr. Pereira said. "We can see the effect because we're able to study massive doses of it."
The authors acknowledge that their study, which appeared yesterday in The Archives of Internal Medicine, depends on self-reports rather than objective experimental design.
The scientists were unable to determine what ingredient in coffee might be protective against diabetes, but they pointed out that coffee was known to be a rich source of minerals and antioxidants that may delay or prevent the onset of the illness.
