What Doctors Don't Tell YouIf you’re worried about developing type 2 diabetes, drink plenty of coffee and other caffeinated drinks, researchers are claiming.
Researchers studied the records of 126,000 people, and found that those who drank few or no caffeinated drinks were more likely to develop diabetes than those who drank them frequently. The researchers conclude that their findings do not prove that drinking coffee lowers the risk of diabetes, but the link between caffeine and glucose tolerance warrants further study.
OK, but before you reach for the coffee pot, you should treat with caution any ‘lifestyle’ research findings such as this. Coffee-drinking may merely be an indicator of a lifestyle that may also involve a controlled diet and exercise, for instance. It’s a bit like the study we once read that concluded that men who were balding were more likely to suffer heart disease. But was the receding hairline the cause – or merely the indicator of ageing?
Sometimes, dear reader, you have to do the thinking for them.
(Source: Annals of Internal Medicine, 2004; 140: 1-8).
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD
