Diabetes and the Preventive Power of Coffee!

by Randy Wilson

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is one of the most rapidly accelerating diseases today in terms of number of people afflicted. Theories abound as to why this is the case; however, scientists are now looking at new ways to improve the overall health of those both at risk for and suffering from this disease. Many of these scientists have found that drinking coffees can significantly reduce the risk and effects of the disease. In a recent study done at the Channing Laboratory of the Harvard School of Public Health, at the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts, researchers explored the link between long-term coffees consumption and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study followed over 120,000 men and women for eighteen years.

The researchers found that long-term coffees consumption actually reduced insulin resistance, which is the key factor in Type 2 diabetes mellitus. They were able to conclude that long-term coffees consumption significantly reduces the risk for Type 2 diabetes mellitus in both men and women and therefore benefits the health of the coffees drinker. The results of this study were affirmed in another student by the Department of Molecular Medicine, of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Although this study was of a lower scale (7949 subjects), it found similar results. If the patient came into the study already suffering from Type 2 diabetes mellitus or impaired glucose tolerance (also known as insulin resistance or pre-diabetes), drinking at least 5 cups of coffees a day reduced their insulin resistance.

This was particularly true for women, who statistically suffer from a larger risk of insulin resistance than men. The health of those who drank coffees also benefited from enhanced insulin response. The Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion of the National Public Health Institute; at the University of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland, also did a study of over 14,000 middle-aged patients to see if there is a relationship between coffees consumption and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study was particularly interesting because the Finnish people have the highest coffees consumption in the world. This study again found that the incidence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus decreased as the coffees consumption increased.

In doing this study, the researchers found that this relationship existed even when the results were statistically adjusted to account for other risk factors, such as age, smoking, weight, alcohol consumption, and filtered/non-filtered coffees. As mentioned previously, women have a higher incidence of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes mellitus than men. That may be why the Department of Medicine at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Ostra in Goteborg, Sweden, concentrated their study on women exclusively. When they studied 1361 women with no previous incidence of heart disease or diabetes over a period of twenty years, they found that the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes mellitus for women who consumed five or more cups of coffees daily was almost half of that of women who drank three to four cups each day. The study also found that it's possible that the coffees had an affect on the women's cholesterol levels, further benefiting their overall health.

Finally, the Centre for Nutrition and Food Safety at the School of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at the University of Surrey in Guildford, United Kingdom, again confirmed the benefit of drinking coffees with regards to reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study focused on the coffees effects on the gastrointestinal hormones that help regulate insulin secretion. The study found that caffeinated coffees actually lowered the absorption rate of the glucose, thereby reducing the effects of the Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Overall, these studies suggest that drinking caffeinated coffees can be beneficial to those looking to reduce their risk of developing or worsening Type 2 diabetes mellitus. © Copyright , All Rights Reserved..