WEDNESDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) -- High levels of tea and coffee consumption, whether caffeinated or decaffeinated, are inversely associated with risk of diabetes, according to a study in the Dec. 14/28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Rachel Huxley, of the University of Sydney in Australia, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 18 studies comprising 457,922 participants looking at the link between coffee intake and diabetes. Six of the studies covering 225,516 participants and seven covering 286,701 people looked at the association between decaffeinated coffee and tea with diabetes, respectively.
For every cup of coffee per day there was a 7 percent lower excess risk of diabetes, the researchers found, but they caution that the research was subject to the effect of small-study bias, which may amplify the magnitude of the association. Randomized trials are needed to confirm whether or not coffee and tea consumption are protective against diabetes, the investigators note.
"If such beneficial effects were observed in interventional trials to be real, the implications for the millions of individuals who have diabetes mellitus, or who are at future risk of developing it, would be substantial," the authors write. "For example, the identification of the active components of these beverages would open up new therapeutic pathways for the primary prevention of diabetes mellitus."
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
