A new study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition has uncovered a new potential mechanism for why coffee consumption may reduce type 2 diabetes risk and decrease insulin resistance, thereby improving heart health.
The study included over 150,000 participants from the UK Biobank and the Rotterdam Study. In this population, the study authors looked for associations between coffee consumption and diagnoses of type 2 diabetes. They also looked for associations between coffee consumption, insulin resistance, and inflammatory biomarkers. Both insulin resistance and diabetes can contribute to the development of heart conditions, including blood vessel damage and weight gain.
The results showed that an increase of one cup per day in coffee consumption was linked to a 4–6% decrease in the chances of developing type 2 diabetes. It was also linked to lower insulin resistance and lower levels of inflammation biomarkers. The baseline coffee consumption of participants ranged from 0 to 6 cups per day, and the results showed that an increase in coffee consumption was beneficial whether participants started on the low or high end of the range.
Type 2 diabetes is in part an inflammatory disease, and the results of this study suggest that coffee consumption may lower type 2 diabetes risk partially because it changes the levels of inflammation biomarkers in the body. One of the authors of the study noted that coffee is one of the most widely and frequently consumed beverages in the world, and its effects on health are an important research topic. The results and mechanism uncovered in this study suggest that future research may show more links to beneficial effects of coffee on other inflammation-related diseases.
Sources: Clinical Nutrition, EurekAlert!
