Coffee May Help Prevent Diabetes, But Tea, Decaf Don't Seem to Do the Trick

WebMD Medical News ^ | By Charlene Laino

[webber]

Coffee May Help Prevent Diabetes, But Tea, Decaf Don't Seem to Do the Trick

By Charlene Laino
Reviewed By Michael  Smith, MD
WebMD Medical News

(New Orleans) -- A jolt of java may do more than get you going in the morning. Drinking four or more cups of coffee a day appears to help prevent diabetes, Harvard researchers report.

It's not the first time that a study has suggested that the popular brew may protect against the blood sugar disorder that affects at least 17 million Americans. Last year, Dutch doctors reported that heavy coffee drinkers are half as likely to develop diabetes as people who consume two cups or less a day.

"If it was really true, maybe we could just forget about exercise and sit in front of the TV and sip coffee all day," researcher Frank Hu, MD, PhD, says in jest. Hu, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, presented the research Tuesday at the American Diabetes Association 63rd Scientific Sessions.

Hu wasn't convinced that coffee could help prevent diabetes because short-term studies suggest that caffeine interferes with the body's ability to handle blood sugar -- by reducing the body's sensitivity to insulin. Insulin is one of the main hormones that keeps blood sugar in check.

So the researchers set out to see if they could replicate the findings in the 100,000-plus men and women whose health they have been following for about two decades.

It's Good for Men and Women

The more coffee the men and women drank, the more it seemed to help prevent diabetes. The findings held true even after accounting for other risk factors linked to diabetes, including age and weight.

For men:

• 1 to 3 cups of coffee a day dropped the risk of diabetes in men by 7%.

• 4-5 cups a day cut the risk of diabetes by 30%.

• 6 or more cups of coffee a day dropped the risk of diabetes by more than 50%.

For women:

• No effect on diabetes prevention was seen for women who drank 1 to 3 cups a day.

• Four cups or more a day reduced their risk of diabetes by about 30%.

• 6 cups did not seem to be any better than four cups.

Decaf or Regular?

Caffeine might be coffee's best-known ingredient, but it's not the only one, Hu notes. Coffee houses dozens of other substances that could affect disease risk. There's magnesium, niacin, potassium, and even such antioxidants as tocopherol.

Hu's team reasoned they could tease out the effects of caffeine on diabetes prevention by also looking at tea and decaf coffee.

"Decaf has the same amount of these other substances, but less caffeine," Hu says. "Tea has other substances and is relatively low in caffeine."

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[uglybiker]

Please see my new tagline. ;-)

[Miss Marple]

Ok, but what effect does 4 or more cups per day have on hypertension?

[uglybiker]

"If it was really true, maybe we could just forget about exercise and sit in front of the TV and sip coffee all day,"...

Don't forget to walk the dog.

[dandelion]

I-I-I-I-I d-d-don-don-don-don't-t kn-n-n-n-nooOOOOOOOoowwww...

COFFEE! I NEED MORE COFFEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeee...

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Gee, since coffee is found to have a medicinal effect, I'm expecting to see David Kessler, that FDA weenie from the Clinton administration (who I think was actually a leftover from Bush I) demand that coffee be regulated as a drug.

"They'll take my Starbucks French Roast away when they pry my mug . . . "

[VadeRetro]

6 or more cups of coffee a day dropped the risk of diabetes by more than 50%.

I used to do this, but peeing every three minutes can be a problem on long car trips. Also, the one morning you don't get your coffee, your skull splits in two with the halves falling off to either side.

[July 4th]

4 cups?? I can barely stomach one. I'd have a hard time drinking 4 cups of something I like.

[Hank Rearden]

Glad to hear that coffee is good for you. I always knew that.

But now I'm wondering if that crap they sell at Starbucks has any positive benefit as well?

[nravoter]

4 cups?? I can barely stomach one. I'd have a hard time drinking 4 cups of something I like.

Simple: just change your cup size. Try one of these on for size:

[demnomo]

Hypertension? How about caffeine supposedly raising blood sugar levels? My Doc warned me to cut down on coffee (1 or 2 cups per day) because it drastically raised blood sugar levels. Sheesh. I hardly even imbibe much alcohol either save for an occasional toast at weddings and on holidays. According to some experts, alcohol is good for your heart. I'm doomed.

[LizardQueen]

This is an interesting study - I would have thought that coffee would be more likely to promote diabetes. I read somewhere that the caffeine in it causes a surge of adrenalin which causes an insulin dump from your pancreas which shoves all the blood sugar out of your blood and into the cells. This seems like something that would burn out your pancreas over time.

I've noticed that I'm much hungrier in the AM if I drink coffee than if I don't, probably because of it scouring my blood clean of sugar.

LQ

[cavtrooper21]

....and now I know why I call it the elixer of life.
Wow, and here I just thought it tasted good!

[webber]

"But now I'm wondering if that crap they sell at Starbucks has any positive benefit as well?"

Obviously, YOU are NOT a Coffee connoiseur. Which Coffee do you prefer? Nescafe Instant Coffee in an expensive glass jar? {;-)

[T Minus Four]

coffee's good, no, coffee's bad, no, coffee's good, no, coffee's bad, no, coffee's good, no, coffee's bad, no, coffee's good, no, coffee's bad,no, coffee's good, no, coffee's bad,no, coffee's good, no, coffee's bad...............

Eggs are good, no, eggs are bad, no, eggs are good, no eggs are bad, no, eggs are good, no, eggs are bad, no, eggs are good, no, eggs are bad, no, eggs are good......

Wine is good, no, wine is bad, no, wine is good, no, wine is bad, no, wine is good, no, wine is bad, no, wine is good, no............

[webber]

"6 or more cups of coffee a day dropped the risk of diabetes by more than 50%."

If you drank just 1 cup of Espresso or a Latte, or a Cappucino, or Cafe Americano, you wouldn't be urinating so much, since very little liquid is being consumed....it's concentrated coffee. Seattle is the Coffee Capital of the World. We consume more coffee in more different ways than any other city in the World!! </bragging]

[webber]

"Ok, but what effect does 4 or more cups per day have on hypertension?"

When I was just a young whipper-snapper, I consumed coffee by the pot-full and was calm as a clam, and slept like a log. Maybe I've accumulated enough of the anti-diabetes factor in the coffee that I can slack off now that my youth has decided to flee.

[VadeRetro]

If you drank just 1 cup of Espresso or a Latte, or a Cappucino, or Cafe Americano, you wouldn't be urinating so much ...

I'm down to one mug of the ordinary stuff, most mornings. Rarely I'll have another cup with dessert when I eat dinner out. I'm just as happy with the current ration as I used to be swilling it all day.

[LizardQueen]

I've switched to half-caf - a mix of decaf and regular. I still drink as much as I did before (3 good-sized travel mugs full). I had found that as I've gotten older I can't tolerate the caffeine as well - gives me the shakes and an acid stomach.

LQ

[Hank Rearden]

Obviously, YOU are NOT a Coffee connoiseur. Which Coffee do you prefer? Nescafe Instant Coffee in an expensive glass jar? {;-)

Well, since you asked < scuffs toe in dirt > . . . . . I roast my own coffee beans. So maybe I do qualify as a connoisseur, or at least a coffee snob. ;-)

Have been doing it for years. It takes some practice, but isn't difficult once you get used to it. Go here for an example site if you want to explore.

Starbucks buys cheap beans, overroasts the hell out of them, then drowns them in sugar and "creme". All IMHO, natch.

I roast my own beans, grind directly into a filter with a burr mill, drip-brew with Melitta filters (Mr. Coffees are from the devil) using an instant-hot water dispenser set to exactly 197 degrees (I'm not kidding about any of this) or fire up my more-than-capable espresso maker. Never any sugar or other sweeteners, never any "creme" - straight black, every time.

It may sound like a big deal to you, but I can walk into my kitchen half-unconcious and go Zero-to-Cup'oPhenomenalCoffee in less than 2 minutes. Literally. You can't warm up one of those Mr. Devil machines in that amount of time.

So yes, I can tell the difference.

I'll give you this: Starbucks is somewhat better than the 50-cent machines that dispense "koffee" into paper cups with poker hands printed on them.

And no, Nescafe (or any instant coffee) stays a minimum of 6 miles from my house, at Safeway, at all times.

Did I answer your question?