Can coffee help you beat diabetes?

Drinking more coffee could help prevent diabetes, according to Harvard scientists. People who boost their coffee intake by more than a cup a day have an 11 per cent lower risk of developing diabetes, according to the study. Scientists at Harvard School of Public Health looked at data on almost 100,000 female nurses and 28,000 male health professionals who were asked regularly about their diet over two decades, during which time 7,300 developed type 2 diabetes. (Read: Beat diabetes with these 7 foods (Gallery))

People who boosted their coffee intake by more than a cup a day had an 11 per cent lower risk of developing diabetes, while those who cut consumption by more than a cup a day had a 17 per cent higher risk of the disease, 'The Times' reported. Researchers suggest that coffee could decrease glucose levels in the blood, which are a warning sign for diabetes. (Read: Prevent diabetes with these 10 practical tips (Gallery))

'Our data provide novel evidence that increasing coffee consumption over a 4 year period is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, while decreasing coffee consumption is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes in subsequent years,' said researchers in the journal Diabetologia. (Read: Can people with diabetes eat fruits?)

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a metabolic disease which is characterised by high blood sugar levels. It can be caused either due to the lack of insulin (type 1 diabetes) or because the body's cells fail to respond to the insulin produced (type 2 diabetes). There's another form of diabetes that afflicts pregnant women called gestational diabetes.

Causes of diabetes?

Our digestive system breaks down whatever food we eat into glucose. This glucose is absorbed by the blood with the help of a hormone called insulin. Diabetes occurs when the body is not able to produce insulin or is not able to use it effectively. Here are some of the reasons why this happens.

1. Genes

Genes can be responsible for causing both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Having certain combination of genes may increase or decrease the risk of diabetes. If your parents were diabetics, you should be extra careful about your lifestyle.

2. Autoimmune destruction of beta cells

Sometimes, our own immune system may recognise the beta cells that produce insulin as antigens, and create antibodies to destroy them. Often, diabetes is diagnosed after most of the cells are destroyed and the patient then needs a daily dose of insulin to survive. (Read: Diabetes Symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment and complications)

With inputs from PTI

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