Four cups of coffee daily could lower type 2 diabetes, hypertension risk, study claims

New research has suggested that drinking up to four cups of coffee a day could lower type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure risk.

According to Daily Mail, researchers at the University of Navarre in Spain and the University of Catania in Italy discovered a link between coffee consumption and metabolic syndrome (MetS).

MetS is a cluster of conditions marked by the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. This also includes increased blood pressure and blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or levels

With this “affecting one in every four adults in the UK,” the researchers claim that drinking three to four cups daily translates to around a 25 per cent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes unlike consuming none or less than two cups in 24 hours.

Previous research at the University of South Australia had linked excessive coffee consumption to increased heart disease risk in the long-run, going further to reveal the point at which caffeine could become too much.

To validate their claims, the researchers examined thousands of newly-diagnosed MetS cases from eight different countries and showed a “statistically significant” positive link between coffee drinking and subsequent risk of type 2 diabetes.

They, thereafter, found that every additional cup of coffee — up to six to eight cups daily — was linked to a five to ten per cent lower risk of developing the condition.

According to Giuseppe Grosso, a professor at the University of Catania who also wrote on coffee consumption and MetS, the polyphenols packed with antioxidants contained in coffee may be involved in preventing MetS, especially “phenolic acids and flavonoids.”

After reviewing previous studies suggesting moderate coffee consumption reduces cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes, Grosso concluded that “further research is required to clarify the associations between coffee and metabolic syndrome.”