Coffee is good in reducing diabetes risk : study

Washington, July 3 (UNI) Some more good news about that daily cup of coffee: It could reduce the risk of Type II diabetes, the type most commonly associated with obesity and the body's inability to regulate blood sugar, says a new study.

According to the study researchers at the University of Minnesota followed the coffee habits of 28,000 post-menopausal women over the course of 11 years.

Researchers found that women who drank six or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day were 22 percent less likely than those who drank no coffee to be diagnosed with diabetes.

CBS-TV medical analyst Emily Senay says the effect was even greater for decaf consumers. ''It reduced the risk of developing Type II diabetes by 33 percent,'' she says.

The results of the study were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Senay says scientists are not sure what ingredient in the coffee is responsible for the beneficial effect.

''Coffee beans themselves may contain compounds or chemicals that might help control carbohydrate metabolism which is the problem with diabetes,'' and adds, ''There may be minerals that are helpful. What is interesting in this study is that it was the decaf [coffee that produced the greatest beneficial effect], and so we know it is something in the beans and not the caffeine.'' Senay says the findings open more avenues for study. Her advice: the key to warding off diabetes is not coffee, but regular exercise and a low-fat diet.

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