Coffee is indeed a hugely loved beverage that people enjoy in the morning and/or throughout the day. Some of the coffee drinkers cannot even do any chores unless they boost their energy levels with as many cups of it as they can. Thanks to its high levels of antioxidants and beneficial nutrients, drinking coffee is actually healthy and can reduce type 2 diabetes risk.
Wait! Are you thinking about the connection between good health and coffee? Well, several studies also have shown that coffee consumption lowers the risk of developing many chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes. So, what is type 2 diabetes? Let’s learn about diabetes first.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that affects how a body processes blood glucose. Blood glucose or blood sugar in our bodies is important. Why? Because it fuels the brain and gives energy to body muscles and tissues. So, if a person is diabetic it means that he or she has too much glucose in the blood. This happens when a body becomes insulin resistant and is unable to uptake glucose into the cells for energy.
Chronic diabetes types are type 1 and type 2. Other types include gestational diabetes, which occurs during pregnancy but goes away after birth.
Type 2 diabetes is a major health problem, affecting millions worldwide. People who are middle-aged or older are most likely to get it, and it used to be called adult-onset diabetes. However, type 2 diabetes also affects kids and teens dealing with obesity.
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes can be so mild that one cannot even notice them. Some of the symptoms include, being very thirsty, peeing a lot, blurry vision, fatigue/feeling worn out, wounds that don’t heal, feeling hungry and weight loss, etc.
Coffee drinking reduces type 2 diabetes risk
Coffee drinking has been linked with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, and researchers worldwide have agreed on this notion time and again.
A study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers found that people who up the amount of coffee they drank each day by more than one cup over a four-year period had an 11% lower risk for type 2 diabetes than those who made no changes to their coffee consumption. In addition, the study found that those who decreased their coffee consumption by more than a cup per day increased their type 2 diabetes risk by 17%.
Harvard researchers tracked over 100,000 people for about 20 years. They concentrated on a four-year period, and their conclusions were later published in this 2014 study.
Over a dozen other studies have also linked coffee drinking to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. However, for individuals who already have type 2 diabetes, drinking coffee or increasing the intake of the beverage could be harmful.
Did you know that the timing of coffee drinking also influences this effect?
Lunchtime coffee break best for fighting diabetes
Dr. Daniela S. Sartorelli of the University of Sao Paulo in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, and her colleagues did research to establish a connection in 2010. He found out that one may need to enjoy his or her java with lunch if one wants to get any benefit.
The study in nearly 70,000 women found that those who drank at least a cup of coffee with lunch were one-third less likely to develop type 2 diabetes over several years than non-coffee drinkers. This was true for decaf and caffeinated coffee, with or without sugar. But drinking coffee at any other time of the day didn’t influence diabetes risk at all.
To investigate, Sartorelli’s team looked at 69,532 French women participating in a large European nutrition study. The women ranged in age from 41 to 72 when they were enrolled in the study and were followed for 11 years, on average. During that time, 1,415 of them developed type 2 diabetes. Overall, those who drank at least three cups of coffee daily were 27 percent less likely to become diabetic.
How is coffee beneficial for reducing type 2 diabetes risk?
Coffee is an ant-rich beverage and contains, vitamins, minerals, caffeine, and bioactive substances. Besides, the antioxidant properties in coffee include, chlorogenic ferulic and N-coumaric acids.
Studies have shown that the antioxidant properties of coffee are beneficial to human health. Coffee is rich in powerful antioxidants. Surprisingly, many people get more antioxidants from coffee than from fruits and veggies combined.
Antioxidants in coffee reduce inflammation in the body system
Antioxidants found in coffee actually reduce inflammation in the body system that raises one’s chances of type 2 diabetes.
People with type 2 diabetes don’t produce or use enough insulin – a hormone that controls the amount of sugar in the blood. Insulin may also have an impact on tissue in the body, producing obesity and the accumulation of fat around the belly and on major organs in the abdomen. The fat cells can produce chemicals that lead to inflammation.
Decades ago, researchers identified higher levels of inflammation in the bodies of people with type 2 diabetes. The levels of certain inflammatory chemicals called cytokines are often higher in people with type 2 diabetes compared to people without diabetes.
It is impressive, indeed, how healthy and beneficial a cup of coffee is. Did someone say, coffee? We like it super hot. What about you?
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