Coffee: A new miracle drug for diabetics?



Have a cup of coffee to wash down those aspirins. In fact, have six. Every day.

No one really understands how aspirin works on so many modern day maladies, but millions now take at least one a day to stave off heart disease.

Now, a startling bit of research from the Harvard School of Public Health indicates that heavy coffee consumption -- and they mean six or more eight-ounce cups a day -- can cut the risk of type 2 diabetes in men by 50 per cent and in women by 30 per cent.

That's formula-shattering stuff, since coffee has long been on the hate list of food purists. And, naturally, the results come with a caution from experts who say it may not be the coffee, but rather something about the people drawn to drink it that protects them.

"The evidence is quite strong that regular coffee is protective against diabetes," said one of the researchers, Dr. Frank Hu. "The question is whether we should recommend coffee consumption as a strategy. I don't think we're there yet."

Type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, typically shows up in middle-aged people. Unlike type 1 diabetes, in which the pancreas does not generate enough insulin, in type 2 diabetes, the insulin is usually there -- but the body cannot use it properly to control the amount of sugar in the system.

Over time, the resulting higher sugar levels can lead to blindness, heart disease, kidney failure and nerve damage, even amputations.

Previous studies had shown that caffeine reduces insulin sensitivity in the body and raises sugar levels, making the new findings startling.

But researchers point out that, in addition to caffeine, coffee contains minerals and other agents such as potassium, magnesium and antioxidants that might counter the effects of caffeine in small doses and actually stave off the onset of diabetes.

Supporting the idea that it may be something other than caffeine, or something that works in combination with caffeine, was a finding that decaf drinkers also benefit from consumption. There was a 25 per cent risk reduction for men and 15 per cent for women who consumed large quantities of decaf coffee and, bad news for many New Zealanders, no statistically significant link between diabetes and tea.

The new findings support an earlier, much smaller Dutch study which indicated that people who drank at least seven cups of coffee a day were half as likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people who drank two cups or less.

In the latest study, every two to four years over a period of 12 to 18 years, more than 126,000 people filled out questionnaires reporting, among other things, their intake of coffee and tea. Researchers adjusted the data for risk factors such as smoking, exercise and obesity, according to AP.

Dr. Nathaniel Clark of the American Diabetes Association was vexed at the wide publicity the study received.

He told the Associated Press, "I'm often frustrated by this type of research because the public is bombarded with these stories and they don't know what they're supposed to do."

The study -- "Coffee Consumption and Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus" -- was published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers credited by the study were Eduardo Salazar-Martinez, MD, PhD; Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH; Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPH; JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH; Michael F. Leitzmann, MD, DrPH; Meir J. Stampfer, MD, DrPH; and Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD