Diabetes is quickly becoming a disease that has been affecting more and more people worldwide. Still currently a disease of which a cure still eludes researchers, controlling diabetes still largely depends on prevention and living a healthy lifestyle early. But it seems that a known beverage considered by many as not good for the body may actually have protective properties when it comes to diabetes control.
Coffee is a commonly popular drink among people all over the world. By and large, it is considered as a beverage that may not be good for you if taken excessively. But researchers have found out in several past studies that coffee may contain certain compounds that may have protective properties against type 2 diabetes. But it is only recently that the researchers have known the reason why.
Researchers from UCLA discovered that a protein called sex hormone binding globulin or SHBG that regulates the activity of the body’s sex hormones. It has also long been known that the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone may also play a big role in the development of type 2 diabetes. Coffee consumption, as it turns out, was also discovered to increase the plasma levels of SHBG. The researchers believe that this might be the connection between coffee and its protective role against type 2 diabetes.
Lead author of the said study involving coffee Atsushi Goto, post doctoral student in epidemiology at UCLA along with Dr. Simin Liu, professor of epidemiology and medicine with joint appointments at the UCLA School of Public Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, reported that women who drink an average of four cups of coffee a day are also less likely to develop diabetes as compared to non-coffee drinkers. The study involved researchers identifying 359 new diabetes cases matched by race and age with 359 healthy controls which were selected from 40,000 women enrolled in the women’s Health Study.
The said study found out that women who drank 4 cups of coffee daily also had significantly higher level of SHBG than non drinkers and were also 56 percent less likely to develop diabetes than the non-drinkers. But when the researchers controlled for blood SHBG levels, there was not significant difference seen with coffee consumption on developing diabetes. Further study also showed that consumption of decaffeinated coffee was not associated with higher SHBG levels as well as with diabetes risk.
Source: University of California – Los Angeles. “Why coffee protects against diabetes.” ScienceDaily 15 January 2011. 9 February 2011 <http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2011/01/110113102200.htm>
Tags: coffee and diabetes, coffee consumption, Diabetes News, diabetes study, effects of coffee, type 2 diabetes