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 underincreasing 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"