To mark World Diabetes Day, the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) has published its annual diabetes report outlining the latest research on coffee and type 2 diabetes. More than 380 million people worldwide have diabetes, with an economic burden of $548 billion, making it one of the most significant global health problems.
The research round up report concludes that regular, moderate consumption of coffee may decrease an individual's risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Key research findings include:
- Epidemiological evidence shows that drinking three to four cups of coffee per day is associated with an approximate 25% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to consuming none to less than two cups per day.
- Research has also suggested an inverse (i.e. favourable) association, with each additional cup of coffee reducing the relative risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 7-8 per cent.
- Research indicates that caffeine is unlikely to be responsible for this effect. A recent meta-analysis suggested that consumption of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Recent work5 suggests that the type of coffee may also affect the strength of the inverse (i.e. favourable) association, with filtered coffee exhibiting a greater protective effect than boiled coffee, and decaffeinated coffee exhibiting a greater protective effect than caffeinated coffee.