Coffee May Reduce Risk of Diabetes

Several studies in the last years have suggested that high regular coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
A group of researchers lead by Dr. Rob M. van Dam from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston evaluated the effect of the consumption of different types of coffee on the risk of diabetes in more than 88,000 US women.
They found that the risk was reduced 13 percent with one cup of coffee a day and 47 percent with four or more cups a day. They concluded that moderate consumption of coffee may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in middle-age and younger women.
The researchers also believe that other substances in coffee other than caffeine may affect glucose metabolism and therefore lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Furthermore, coffee may not only lower type 2 diabetes risk, make you more alert and even improve your learning abilities, but some studies report that coffee is a potent antioxidant.
However, this doesn't mean that you should increase your coffee consumption or start drinking coffee if you don't already drink it regularly. Caffeine is a mild stimulant that has effects on the cardiovascular system such as increased heart rate, higher blood pressure or irregular heartbeat that should be considered in case you have heart disease or hypertension.
If you feel that coffee has negative effects on you please talk with your doctor about it.
February 9, 2006.
Source: Van Dam, R, Willett W. Coffee, Caffeine, and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 29:398-403, 2006

References:
Diabetes Care: care.diabetesjournals.org
About.com: diabetes.about.com