Tea and Coffee Can Help Prevent Diabete

According to a recent flurry of over 18 separate studies, people who regularly drink tea and coffee are at a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Even better news for those that drink coffee but stick to the decaf is that it’s not likely that caffeine has the greatest effect, according to the Archives of Internal Medicine researchers.

If you want to see the benefits though you’ll need more than just a single cup of tea in the morning, unfortunately. You’ll need to be drinking at least three cups of coffee or tea a day before you start seeing any major benefits, but doing so could cut the risk of diabetes by as much as 20%.

Drinking decaf coffee instead of regular coffee or tea reduces that risk even further as much as a third.

Type 2 diabetes is normally something that starts after the age of 40 and begins when the body is developing some of its own insulin, but not enough, or producing plenty that isn’t working the way that it should. Medication or insulin is often required to treat the illness, although it can be solved simply by increased exercise and a healthy diet.

Researchers found the each additional cup of coffee consumed in a day reduces the risk of getting diabetes by 7%. Compounds such as magnesium and antioxidants may well be involved.

Authors of the study stated: “”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.”

While Dr. Victoria King from Diabetes UK pointed out a balanced diet can also prevent diabetes: “What we can be sure of is that the development of type 2 diabetes is strongly linked to lifestyle, which means that many cases could be prevented by keeping active and eating a healthy balanced diet that is low in fat, salt and sugar with plenty of fruit and vegetables.”