Drinking this every day lowers your diabetes risk, study says
Just like cardiovascular disease,
diabetes is a serious condition that often requires being proactive to avoid.
After all, the 2020 National Diabetes Statistics Report found that 34.2 million
Americans—or one in ten people—has diabetes, while a whopping one in every
three people is prediabetic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). But besides lifestyle and diet changes, a study has found
that drinking one popular beverage every day can greatly lower your risk of
developing the disease. Read on to see which drink should become part of your
daily routine.
An analysis found that drinking coffee every day lowers your diabetes risk.
It turns out brewing that morning
pot might be doing more than just getting your day started on the right foot. A
team of researchers from the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee, a
non-profit organization "devoted to the study and disclosure of science
related to coffee and health," analyzed 30 studies that cumulatively
included data on almost 1.2 million participants.
Results found that those who
drank three to four cups of coffee per day were 25 percent less likely to
develop type 2 diabetes compared to those who consumed 2 cups or less. But it
wasn't just regular coffee that saw the added health benefit: even those who
drank decaffeinated coffee saw their risk of diabetes drop at the same rate.
Numerous compounds found in coffee have been found to have major health
benefits.
The researchers theorize the
consumption of coffee provides the body with more compounds naturally found in
each brew, including caffeine, caffeic acid, trigonelline, and cafestol. Each
is believed to affect blood sugar levels while also finding that moderate
coffee consumption can have an anti-inflammatory effect and boost antioxidants.
Research also showed that coffee
might prevent hyperglycemia after meals, which in turn helps reduce the risk of
type 2 diabetes. The team also wrote that "a cross-sectional multi-ethnic
study in non-diabetic adults suggested that the effect of caffeinated coffee is
positively related to insulin sensitivity, while decaffeinated coffee improves
pancreatic beta-cells function.
The research team still recommends sticking to a moderate intake of coffee.
So why not overload on the joe?
The results already hold plenty of good news for anyone already accustomed to a
"moderate intake" of three to five cups per day. But the study also
suggested that those who are truly java-obsessed could see even better results,
finding that there was an additional six percent reduction in risk for every
additional cup drank, up to eight to 10 cups. Still, researchers said data on
high coffee consumption was limited and suggested sticking to three to five
cups per day—and in the case of diabetic benefits, to avoid adding sweet syrups
or ingredients.
Another study found three to five cups of coffee a day can also reduce the risk of death.
But this research isn't the first
to draw a connection between moderate coffee consumption and improved health.
In a meta-analysis published in the American Heart Association's (AHA) journal
Circulation in 2015, a team used data from three large studies totaling 208,501
participants that were followed up with for up to 30 years. This included a
food questionnaire that tracked each person's coffee consumption.
Researchers found a direct
correlation between the amount of coffee consumed—including decaffeinated
coffee—and mortality, with those who drank three to five cups a day witnessing
a 15 percent drop in early death for any reason. The study authors wrote that
"significant inverse associations were observed between coffee consumption
and deaths attributed to cardiovascular disease, neurologic diseases, and suicide.
