FW:coffee and diabetes

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The following research was underwritten by the Starbucks Endowment

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Heavy Coffee Drinking Lowers Diabetes Risk--Study

Fri Nov 8,11:17 AM ET

By Reaney

LONDON (Reuters) - Good news for coffee drinkers.

The cup that helps millions of people get started in the morning, and

several more cups throughout the day, may reduce the risk of

diabetes, Dutch researchers said Friday.

Scientists at Vrije University in Amsterdam said components in coffee

seem to help the body metabolize sugar, thereby reducing the risk of

diabetes, which affects 130 million people worldwide.

" This is the first study that comes up with the idea that coffee

could actually be beneficial for type 2 diabetes, " said Rob van Dam

of the university's department of nutrition and health.

Whether it's filter, cappuccino, latte or espresso, coffee contains

minerals such as magnesium, potassium and other micronutrients that

have health benefits.

Van Dam and his team do not know which of the compounds in coffee are

involved or how they work against diabetes, but when they compared

coffee consumption with the risk of type 2, or adult onset diabetes,

they found the more people drank, the lower their risk.

Individuals who drank seven or more cups of coffee a day, were 50%

less likely to develop the disease. Fewer cups a day had less of an

impact.

" For most people it is not bad to drink moderate amounts of coffee, "

Van Dam said.

But he said the findings, which are reported in The Lancet medical

journal and need to be confirmed in other studies, do not mean people

should drink large amounts of coffee every day.

Studies have shown drinking too much coffee can raise cholesterol

levels and increase the risk of osteoporosis, or brittle bone

disease, in some people, according to Van Dam.

" It's quite an individual choice to drink coffee or not, " Van Dam

said in an interview.

But he added if scientists knew more about the active components in

coffee, it might be possible to make a type of coffee or another

product with more of the beneficial compounds and fewer of the

detrimental ones.

Diabetes is a chronic disease caused by a deficiency in insulin, or

the inability to use it properly. Type 2 diabetes, the most common

type, is caused by a loss of sensitivity to insulin. Type 1 sufferers

do not produce enough insulin and need daily injections.

Many people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. Excess

weight is the most common and avoidable risk factor for the illness,

which experts estimate will afflict 220 million people by the year

2010.