More good news for coffee drinkers, as researchers continue to find different ways that coffee consumption is good for your health. The latest example of this comes from researchers at the medical university Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, who find that regularly drinking coffee is linked with lower instances of type 2 diabetes.
Published recently in the journal BMJ Medicine, the study set to find any “potential causal effects of long-term plasma caffeine concentrations on adiposity [the amount of fat stored in the body], type 2 diabetes, and major cardiovascular disease.” For the study, researchers examined nearly 10,000 individuals with one of two genetic variants that cause a person to metabolize caffeine more slowly.
They found that these individuals “have a lower body mass index, body fat mass, and risk of Type 2 diabetes,” per the New York Post, and researchers believe the lingering caffeine in their systems may be the cause. Because caffeine is metabolized more slowly in these individuals, it hangs around in the body longer, which researchers believe allows the body to burn more fat and/or make the individual feel more full, leading to them eating less. Both lead to a decreased amount of fat stored in the body, which then decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Still, the study didn’t establish a causal relation, and more evidence is needed before any final determinations can be made. But, as study author Dr. Dipender Gill notes, “If there is more evidence from larger trials in the future, it may suggest that people should consider drinking espressos or black coffee to reduce their risk of Type 2 diabetes.”
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
