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Regular Coffee Drinking
May Reduce Diabetes
Regular coffee drinking may reduce levels of inflammatory
markers linked to diabetes, according to new findings.
Scientists from Germany, Finland and Denmark report that daily
coffee consumption was associated with
improved cholesterol
levels and blood levels of inflammatory compounds such as
interleukin-18. “Our study represents the first intervention trial
to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of coffee and to develop
and test coffee-derived compounds in plasma as biomarkers of
coffee intake during long-term coffee consumption,” stated the
researchers from Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf.
Reporting in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the
European scientists also note: “Coffee consumption appears to
have favourable effects on some markers of subclinical inflammation
and oxidative stress and to increase plasma concentrations of
potential biomarkers of coffee intake. “Because subclinical
inflammation is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, our results suggest
one mechanism that could mediate the reduced risk of type 2
diabetes among individuals who habitually consume coffee for years.”
Coffee And Its Polyphenols
The beverage, and its constituent ingredients, has come under
increasing study with research linking it to reduced risk of diabetes,
and improved liver health.
Indeed, a recent report from Purdue University in Physiology &
Behavior stated that coffee is one of the richest sources of
polyphenols in the Western diet, with one cup of the stuff providing
350 milligrams of phenolics. Of these, the most abundant
compounds coffee are chlorogenic acids, making up to 12 per cent
of the green coffee bean. The most abundant of these compounds
is caffeic acid.
Important New Data
The new study involved 47 regular coffee drinkers. The participants
stopped drinking the beverage for one month, then limited
themselves to four cups a day for another month, and then drank
eight cups per day for a third month.
Results showed that blood levels of caffeine, chlorogenic acid, and
caffeic acid metabolites increased following coffee consumption.
Furthermore, levels of the pro-inflammatory interleukin-18 and
8-isoprostane (a marker of oxidative stress) decreased by 8 and
16 per cent, respectively. Adiponectin levels increased by 6 per cent.
Adiponectin is a protein hormone linked to various metabolic
processes, and levels are inversely related to body fat levels.
Additionally, improvements in cholesterol levels were also detected
following the third month, with total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol
increased by 12, 7, and 4, respectively. On the other hand, the ratios
of LDL to HDL cholesterol decreased by 8 per cent, they added.
Glucose metabolism was unaffected by coffee consumption.
The researchers concluded that the impact of inflammation on the
progression of diabetes may support an anti-diabetic role for the
beverage.
Source:
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Published online ahead of print, doi: doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.28548
“Effects of coffee consumption on subclinical inflammation and other
risk factors for type 2 diabetes: a clinical trial”
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