London: 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.
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.
“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.
