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Drinking Coffee May Cut Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Risk

10/23/2010 21:53:00 admin

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Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted in a study published recently in Population Health Metrics that by 2050, nearly one third of American will live with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

James P Boyle and colleagues, authors of the study, believe that the projected increase is due largely to the aging population, increasing numbers of members of higher risk minority groups in the population and longer life-span for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

In response, a health observer said that risk factors that the researchers believe contribute to the projected increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus can be modified to mitigate the risk if people are willing to change their lifestyle.

Recently a study published in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases suggests that drinking lots of coffee may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The study led by Ying Zhang and colleagues from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, OK showed subjects who drank 12 or more cups of coffee each day had their diabetes risk reduced by 67 percent compared to non-drinkers.

The prospective cohort study involved 1141 American Indian men and women aged 45 to 72 years of age who had normal glucose tolerance and whose coffee drinking information was collected, at the baseline between 1989 and 1992. All the subjects were followed by 7.6 years.

American Indian men and women are known to have high risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study was meant to examine the effect of drinking coffee on the incidence of the disease in persons with normal glucose tolerance in this at-risk population.

A significant risk reduction was only found in those who drank 12 or more cups of coffee daily. Those who drank fewer cups of coffee did not seem to reduce the risk statistically significantly.

Specifically, compared to non-drinkers, those who drank 1 to 2 cups, 3 to 4 cups, 5 to 7 cups and 8 to 11 cups of coffee were at 7, 13, and 28 percent reduced risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus respectively, the study showed. But the risk reduction was insignificant.

In addition, the researchers found drinking coffee was positively associated with the current levels of smoking, and inversely associated with body mass index, waist circumference, female gender, and hypertension.

It is unknown why drinking coffee as a habit was associated with reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, the researchers said.

The study has at least one limitation - it did not consider other risk factors like dietary patterns. Therfore it is hard to know the exact possible effect of drinking coffee on the risk of the disease.

They warned the study did not reveal a causal relation between coffee drinking and diabetes risk. In addition, even if drinking is the cause for the reduction in the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, the benefit of drinking 12 cups of coffee daily should be weighed against its potentially detrimental effects on blood pressure levels and sleep disturbances.

The health observer suggested that if drinking coffee indeed helps reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, people in other populations may not need 12 cups a day to have an effect.

One encouraging study just published in April 2010 in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows French women who drank a couple of coffee at lunchtime were at significantly reduced risk of diabetes mellitus.

Quite a few early studies have already associated coffee drinking with reduced risk of diabetes mellitus, but this study led by Daniela S Sartorelli at the Department of Social Medicine Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto University of São Paulo Ribeirão Preto Brazil and colleagues found the time for coffee drinking seems also relevant.

In the prospective cohort study, 69,532 French women aged 41 to 72 years of age who were free of diabetes at baseline were followed for 11 years during which 1415 cases of diabetes were identified.

Sartorelli et al found women drinking 3 or more cups of coffee (more than 12 ounces) per day were at 27 percent reduced risk of diabetes mellitus compared to those with no coffee consumption.

They also found women drinking merely 1.1 cup (slightly more than 4 ounces) of coffee per day at lunchtime were 34 percent less likely to develop diabetes mellitus,compared to non-drinkers.

The inverse association held true for both drinking regular and decaffeinated coffee, and filtered and black coffee at lunchtime.

Additionally, intake of caffeine was linked with a statistically significantly lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Early studies have suggested Mediterranean diet, green leafy vegetables, breastfeeding, brown rice, plant-based diet, soy products, black tea, vitamin D, turmeric, bitter melon, and fish oil may help prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus include, but not limited to lack of physical exercise, obesity and high consumption of red meat, early studies suggest.

Diabetes can result in serious complications including bladder control problems for women, heart disease and stroke, nerve damage, eye disease, erectile dysfunction, foot problems, and kidney failure, among other things.

Jimmy Downs