Diabetic and Coffee

A study led by the Harvard School of Pubic Healthhas shown that people who increased the amount of coffee they drank by more than one cup per day over a 4-year period had an 11 percent lower risk for type 2 diabetes than those who made no changes to their coffee intake. 

The study also found that those who decreased their coffee consumption by more than one cup per day increased their chance of developing type 2 diabetes by 17 percent. 

What are the “active ingredients” in coffee?

When you think of coffee and diabetes, you may instinctively think it’s bad for you because of all the sugar it often has. But you may be surprised to find out that coffee itself may not necessarily be harmful for your health! Other components in coffee that can affect your health include antioxidants and caffeine:

• Antioxidants.   studies have found that coffee has several types of antioxidants, chemicals that can affect your body positively by fighting inflammation and neutralizing damaging atoms known as free radicals that can cause aging and illness. 
• Caffeine. Probably the most well-known component in coffee is caffeine. It’s a natural stimulant (and what may be helping keep you awake at work!), but more importantly for coffee-drinkers with diabetes, caffeine has been known to increase blood pressure and affect insulin or how well your body can respond to insulin.