Drinking more coffee 'slashes risk of diabetes'

 

Increasing daily intake by more than one cup was linked to an 11% lower risk of type two - cutting consumption by one cup a day had the opposite effect

 

Drinking more coffee immediately cuts your risk of diabetes, scientists have revealed.

Increasing daily intake by more than one cup was linked to an 11% lower risk of the Type 2 version of the disorder.

Cutting consumption by one cup a day had the opposite effect, raising the risk by 17%.

Those drinking three cups or more were 37% less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those having one cup or less.

The study of 124,000 people by America’s Harvard School of Public Health adds to earlier evidence linking coffee to protection from the blood sugar imbalance .

Project leader Prof Frank Hu said: “Changes in consumption seem to affect diabetes risk in a relatively short time.”

An earlier study led by Prof Hu showed six cups a day lowered risk by a third compared with drinking no coffee.

But Dr Richard Elliott, of Diabetes UK, urged caution.

He said: “It does not necessarily follow that coffee was directly responsible for cutting the risk.

"Other factors this study has not identified could also be involved.

"The best way to cut risk is to maintain a healthy weight, eat a healthy diet and be physically active.”

More than two million people in the UK are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

The disease, often controlled by diet rather than injections, occurs when the body produces too little insulin or fails to respond to the hormone properly.