EDUARDO CESARDrinking more than two cups of coffee per day may lower diabetes riskEDUARDO CESAR
Drinking two or more cups of coffee every day can help prevent type 2 diabetes, according to an international team of researchers coordinated by physician Maria Inês Schmidt, from the School of Medicine at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. The researchers examined 12,586 participants of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brazil), between the ages of 35 and 74, assessing the amount of coffee, alcohol, and tobacco they consumed daily, based on responses to a questionnaire. Then, they measured fasting blood glucose levels and submitted the respondents to a glucose tolerance test, taking a new measurement after two hours. A total of 1,341 (10.7%) of the participants had been diagnosed with diabetes, 3,083 (24.5%) had elevated levels of fasting blood glucose, and 3,114 (24.7%) presented alterations in blood glucose after two hours (impaired tolerance). More than half of the respondents (58%) claimed to drink at least two cups of coffee per day (PLOS One, May 15, 2015). Drinkers of two to three cups daily showed a 23% lower risk of having diabetes when compared to participants who seldom or never drank coffee. Having three coffees per day – with or without sugar – can lead to a 26% lower risk of developing the disease and a 29% lower risk of impaired glucose tolerance. According to the researchers, drinking coffee may affect blood glucose metabolism more significantly after meals than when fasting.
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