Gano Life Coffee and Diabetes

Coffee May Be Key to Ward Off Diabetes. People who frequently drink coffee may have a lower risk of diabetes, according to new research, but experts say that more research needs to be done. THURSDAY, Nov. 21, 2013 — Many people can’t start the day without a cup of coffee, and that morning cup may be doing much more than giving them a boost of energy – it may also help ward off type 2 diabetes. There is growing evidence that a relatively small amount of coffee can cut your type 2 diabetes risk by nearly a third — as long as you don’t add too much sugar. Most recently, researchers from Qingdao University in China analyzed 26 studies on coffee and type 2 diabetes, involving a total of more than 1 million participants. They found that those who drank the most coffee were up to 30 percent less likely to develop diabetes than those who drank the least amount. They published the results in the European Journal of Nutrition in October. It’s unclear why exactly coffee reduced diabetes risk, but Steven Zodkoy, DC, a nutrition specialist with the American Clinical Board of Nutritionists, said it probably has to do with the level of caffeine in the drink. “The amount of risk reduction was directly tied to the amount of caffeine in the coffee,” Dr. Zodkoy said. “The caffeinated coffee did a much better job that the decaffeinated coffee in all of the studies.” Caffeine is a stimulant that has been linked to lower weight and faster metabolism – two key factors in diabetes risk, Zodkoy noted. “The people [in the study] who were drinking more of the coffee were thinner, which is huge in lowering your risk for diabetes,” he said. “The fact that the coffee drinkers had a low BMI was likely the major reason for their lower risk.” However, Drab, PharmD, an associate professor of pharmacy and therapeutics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, said it's unclear whether caffeine is the reason for the lower risk. "I’m not sure that we can say that it’s caffeine," Dr. Drab said, "because we don’t see the same benefit in soda drinkers or in people who drink of caffeinated beverages." Contact me for more information at ganoforlifeusa@gmail.com.