By Eulalee Thompson, Staff Reporter
IF WE are to believe the latest research on taking coffee, then it won't be long before it is touted as 'the new health food' on the block.
The latest study on coffee's health benefits makes a link between coffee and diabetes risk. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (March 10), indicates that drinking more than three cups of java each day could reduce one's risk for diabetes type 2.
But... just one minute, before you reach for that coffee pot, there may be some important factors to consider for example, the study was conducted on a group of Finnish men and women (generally accepted as the group with highest per capita coffee consumption in the world) and coffee's health effects appeared to be stronger among woman than men. It was a large study of 14,600 people, arrived at through combined surveys conducted in 1982, 1987 and 1992 of healthy Finnish men and women aged 35 to 64 who, at the start of the study, presented no history of diabetes or other chronic diseases.
The Finnish researchers found that women who took three to four cups of coffee per day cut their risk for developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 29 per cent, but in the case of men taking the same amount coffee the risk reduction was 27 per cent.
The study also appears to indicate that the more coffee consumed, the higher the protection from the chronic condition. For example, women who drink 10 cups of coffee each day cuts her risk for diabetes by 80 per cent, the protection is lower in men, coming in at 55 per cent.
SUMMARY FINDINGS
Women who drink three to four cups of coffee each day cut diabetes type 2 risk by 29 per cent.
Men who drink three to four cups of coffee each day cut diabetes type 2 risk by 27 per cent.
Women who drink seven to nine cups of coffee each day cut risk by 61 per cent.
Men who drink seven to nine cups of coffee each day cut diabetes type 2 risk by 33 per cent.
Women drinking more than 10 cups of coffee each day cut their diabetes type 2 risk by nearly 80 per cent.
Men drinking more than 10 cups of coffee each day cut their diabetes type 2 risk by 55 per cent.
The researchers are still uncertain about the way coffee acts to reduce diabetes risk but they are throwing out several possible explanations. For example, perhaps the chlorogenic acid in coffee indirectly regulates blood glucose levels, although coffee is believed to stimulate the pancreas' secretion of insulin. The chronic disease, diabetes is linked to the body's use of the hormone insulin, and insulin is important in moving glucose (a simple sugar) from the blood to the body's cells where it can be converted to energy.
There are other ingredients in coffee such as magnesium, antioxidants, phytoestrogen, which researchers believe may also have some influence on the way the body uses glucose.
IT'S NOT ALL GOOD
But coffee is not now coming out smelling all like roses. Research generally have not confirmed that it is good or bad. Caffeine, a stimulant found not only in coffee but in colas, tea, soft candies, chocolate, cocoa and in some medications, have been found in some studies to have adverse health effects. One study by the (UK) Economic and Social Research Council, for instance, suggests that it increases feelings of stress and intensifies anxiety. Some studies have also made links between consuming large amounts of coffee and high blood pressure, and it's not exactly listed among heart-healthy foods although researchers have not yet conclusively stated that it is good or bad for the heart.
A 1980 study by the (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also found that when caffeine was fed to pregnant rats, their offspring suffered birth defects and delayed skeletal development. Though considerably more research has been done since this 1980 report, the FDA states as well, that when consumed in large quantities, caffeine can cause irritability, nervousness and insomnia and may cross the placenta in pregnant women and affect the foetus.
So, it may still be too soon to start increasing your dosage of coffee.
