January 25, 2012

Past research has suggested a link between coffee and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. Now, researchers at Wuhan University have identified three major compounds in coffee that may provide potentially beneficial effects: caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and caffeine. These findings suggest that the beneficial effects of coffee consumption on type 2 diabetes mellitus may be partly due to the ability of the major coffee components and metabolites to inhibit the toxic aggregation of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP), a substance normally found in the pancreas. Sometimes, however, abnormal protein deposits (toxic aggregation) arise from hIAPP. These abnormal deposits (amyloid fibrils) are found in people with type 2 diabetes. In 2009, a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine reported that people who drank the most coffee seemed to have the lowest risk of developing type 2 diabetes. That study reported that with each cup of coffee consumed daily, the risk of type 2 diabetes dropped by 7 percent. So, the researchers behind the new study conducted laboratory experiments to see if compounds found in coffee could inhibit the production of the abnormal protein deposits associated with hIAPP. They found that caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and caffeine, the three most common components in coffee, helped reduce the abnormal protein deposits. Caffeic acid appeared most effective. And, because decaffeinated coffee contains even higher levels of caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid than caffeinated coffee, the beneficial effect may be even stronger for decaffeinated coffee. Starbucks here I come.