Drinking coffee lowers diabetes risk by over 50%--study

Sipping hot cup of coffee not only helps kick start your mornings, but also lowers the risk of diabetes by more than half, a new study delving into the link between coffee and type 2 diabetes [Also called non-insulin dependent diabetes; a condition in which the pancreas produces so little insulin that the body cannot use the blood glucose as energy; can often be controlled through meal plans and physical activity plans, and diabetes pills or insulin.] suggests.

According to the study, published in current issue of the journal 'Diabetes,' women who drink three to four cups of coffee a day cut their risk of diabetes by 50 percent or more. Hitherto studies have shown that coffee offers a protective effect against type 2 diabetes [Also called non-insulin dependent diabetes; a condition in which the pancreas produces so little insulin that the body cannot use the blood glucose as energy; can often be controlled through meal plans and physical activity plans, and diabetes pills or insulin.] , but the real reason behind the effect was not known.

Now, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have discovered a possible molecular mechanism that might be responsible for preventing the metabolic condition.

A plausible explanation
Sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) is a type of glycoprotein that regulates the production of sex hormones [chemical substances created by the body that control numerous body functions.] , testosterone and estrogen which are believed to play a crucial role in triggering diabetes.

As per researchers, coffee consumption increases plasma [the watery, straw-colored fluid which carries the cellular elements of the blood through circulation] levels of sex hormone–binding globulin, thereby maintaining the insulin [a hormone produced by the pancreas. Insulin affects the amount of glucose absorbed by the liver.] levels required by the body in order to function properly.

Study details and findings
In order to assess the link between daily consumption of coffee and type 2 diabetes, study author Atsushi Goto, a doctoral student in epidemiology and Dr. Simin Liu, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at UCLA, conducted a study.

For the study, researchers examined 359 diabetes patients and 359 healthy controls of similar age and race selected from the database of nearly 400,000 women enrolled in a large scale Women's Health Study.

It was found that women who drank three to four cups of coffee regularly reported higher levels of sex hormone–binding globulin as compared to non-drinkers. In fact, the coffee sippers were 56 percent less likely to develop diabetes than non-drinkers, the study authors averred.

When the findings of the study were adjusted for the glycoprotein levels, it was noted that the protective effect of coffee disappeared. SHBG blood levels may hold the key to reducing risks for type 2 diabetes, said Dr. Simin Liu, director of the Center for Metabolic Disease Prevention at UCLA and study co-author.

Though the research gives new light to diabetes prevention in middle-aged women, health experts maintain that excess of everything is bad, and this is no different in case of caffeine.