Coffee reduces risk of diabetes: Increasing intake by 1.5cups each day can cut chances of developing condition by 11%

Researchers from Harvard University used data from more than 20 years



They also found people who reduced their coffee drinking had a higher risk



Dr Frank Hu said benefits can be achieved in a relatively short time period



Full of beans: Increasing coffee intake could cut the risk of diabetes, a study has found (file photo)

Drinking more coffee may further reduce the risk of diabetes, say researchers.

Increasing consumption by one and a half cups a day cuts the chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 11 per cent.

Although previous research suggested coffee drinkers benefit from a reduced risk of diabetes, it now appears an individual’s risk can be further improved by stepping up consumption.

Dr Frank Hu and Dr Shilpa Bhupathiraju, from the Department of Nutrition at Harvard University’s School of Public Health, looked at the link between changes in coffee consumption and diabetes risk.

They used data from three US-based studies including the Nurses’ Health Study with participants ranging from 25 to 75 years.

Detailed information on diet, lifestyle, medical conditions, and other chronic diseases was collected every two to four years for over 20 years.

Participants whose coffee intake fell by one or two cups a day had a 17 per cent higher risk for type 2 diabetes.

Changes in tea consumption were not associated with type 2 diabetes risk, but few people changed their drinking habits.

Those with highest consumption of three cups of coffee a day or more had the lowest diabetes risk. It was a third lower than for those drinking one cup or fewer a day.

The research was published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes).

Fancy a cuppa? Those with highest consumption of three cups a day or more had the lowest diabetes risk

The authors said the higher risk of type 2 diabetes from decreasing coffee intake may be a true change in risk, or may reflect people giving it up because they develop medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease or cancer.

However, even when cases of cardiovascular disease or cancer were excluded, the results were very similar.

One researcher said there was 'novel evidence that changes in habits are related to diabetes risk'

Although there was a lower risk of diabetes among decaffeinated coffee drinkers, increasing or decreasing consumption made no difference to the risk.

Dr Hu said: ‘Changes in consumption habits appear to affect diabetes risk in a relatively short amount of time. Our findings…provide novel evidence that changes in habits are related to diabetes risk.’

Studies on decaffeinated coffee have made similar findings with the protective effect due to ‘direct biological effects’ such as antioxidants and magnesium.

Because of the benefits from decaffeinated coffee, it is unlikely caffeine is solely responsible for the effect.

A European investigation into the effects of diet and lifestyle on health last year found moderate coffee drinking lowered the risk of diabetes by around 30 per cent.

Dr Richard Elliott, Research Communications Officer at Diabetes UK, said ‘While this study found evidence of a connection between how much coffee you drink and your risk of Type 2 diabetes, this does not mean that increasing your coffee intake will reduce your diabetes risk.

‘Even if people who drank more coffee did tend to have a lower risk of Type 2, it does not necessarily follow that coffee consumption was directly responsible.

‘Other factors that this study has not identified could also be involved and it is even possible that being at high risk of Type 2 diabetes encourages people to reduce their coffee intake.