喝咖啡的好处 Advantages to have a Coffee

今天需要喝一杯咖啡的藉口？
Need a reason to have a Coffee?
發表在美國「糖尿病」(Diabetologia) 期刊的最新研究，增加咖啡攝取量的成人，能降低約11%罹患二型糖尿病的風險，該數據是基於2萬名衛生專業人員的飲食、生活習慣與慢性病史等資料分析，而哈佛大學公共衛生學院的研究人員表示，只要咖啡不讓你心悸，不會使你緊張不安，咖啡的確有不少健康好處，咖啡含酚類化合物和木酚素，能改善糖代謝，咖啡中含有豐富的鎂，也能降低二型糖尿病的風險，但要注意的是，參與這項研究喝的是簡單的黑咖啡，而不是加料的花式咖啡。
Need an excuse to drink yet another cup of coffee today? A new study suggests that increasing coffee consumption may decrease the risk for type 2 diabetes.

The apparent relationship between coffee and type 2 diabetes is not new. Previous studies have found that drinking a few cups or more each day may lower your risk - with each subsequent cup nudging up the benefit.

This most recent study, published in the journal Diabetologia, was more concerned with how changing coffee consumption - either increasing it or decreasing it over time - might affect your risk.

The conclusion: People who upped their consumption by more than a cup per day had an 11% lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared with people whose consumption held steady. Decreasing coffee consumption by the same amount - more than a cup a day - was associated with a 17% increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

The data is based on an analysis of more than 120,000 health professionals already being followed observationally long term. Researchers looked at the study participants' coffee drinking habits across four years to reach their conclusions.

Just how much coffee each day provides a benefit?

"For type 2 diabetes, up to six cups per day is associated with lower risk," said Shilpa Bhupathiraju, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health and lead study author, citing previous research. "As long as coffee doesn't give you tremors, doesn't make you jittery, it is associated with a lot of health benefits."

In the case of diabetes, the reasons behind the supposed protection conferred by coffee are not clear, but there are theories based on animal research.

One involves chemicals present in coffee - phenolic compounds and lignans - that may improve glucose metabolism, according to Bhupathiraju. She added that coffee is rich in magnesium, which is also associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Coffee drinking linked to longer life

Wait, though. Before you scramble out to purchase your fourth latte of the day, it is important to note that the type of coffee matters.

Lattes and other types of specialty drinks - often laden with sugar - were not studied. The type of coffee involved in this study tended to be a simple eight-ounce cup of black coffee containing about 100 milligrams of caffeine.

"People think of (increasing their intake) as going and drinking an extra blended drink," said Bhupathiraju. "We are not talking about 'frappuchinos' or lattes. It's black coffee with milk and sugar."

Coffee good for you, but it's OK to hold back

And while coffee may be associated with a reduction in some chronic diseases (not just diabetes, but cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and - according to a New England Journal of Medicine study - with a longer life, overall) scientists are still reluctant to call coffee a panacea.

That doesn't mean you can't enjoy one more cup in the meantime.