Drinking One More Cup of Coffee Per Day Lowers Your Risk of Diabetes

Do you drink coffee? Do you drink a lot of coffee? Then you may be in luck. Scientists have discovered that increasing coffee consumption by an average of one and a half cups per day over a four-year period can reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes by 11 percent.

In the past, researchers have shown that drinking coffee and tea can lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. But until now, researchers have no known how changes in coffee and tea consumption might influence subsequent type 2 diabetes risk. In order to get a bit of a closer look, the scientists examined the associations between 4-year changes in coffee and tea consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes in the subsequent four years.

In this case, the researchers examined data from three large prospective, U.S.-based studies. They received detailed information on diet, lifestyle, medical conditions and other chronic diseases that the volunteers had every two to four years for over 20 years.

So what did they find? The scientists documented 7,269 cases of type 2 diabetes. What was interesting, though, was that those who increased their coffee consumption by more than one cup per day over a four year period had a 11 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes in the subsequent four years compared to those who made no lifestyle changes. In contrast, those who decreased their coffee intake by one cup her day actually had a 17 percent higher risk for type 2 diabetes. Changes in tea drinking seemed to have no effect.

"Changes in coffee consumption habits appear to affect diabetes risk in a relatively short amount of time," wrote the authors in a news release. "Our findings confirm those of prospective studies that higher coffee consumption is associated with a lower type 2 diabetes risk and provide novel evidence that changes in coffee consumption habits are related to diabetes risk."

The findings reveal that coffee may be a way to help your diet. That said, more research needs to be conducted before any firm conclusions are drawn.

The findings are published in the journal Diabetologia.