Daily intake of coffee has been found to bring a number of health benefits, including a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and some cancers. Nonetheless, experts say, coffee can pose a risk to the heart as well as increase blood cholesterol and blood pressure — both risk factors for heart disease, reports Sade Oguntola.

WATCHING Mrs Helen Okon rattle on with her friend that she stopped drinking coffee years back because it made her too jittery while the husband still drinks coffee every day, was an indication that many questions are in the mind of people on the health benefits of coffee.

Many people are confused about the health benefits of coffee; in fact some people have the impression that too much caffeine is bad for health. Is there harm in drinking so much coffee? Are there health benefits from drinking it?

Ironically, caffeine and some of the other substances in coffee seem to have their good and bad sides. Coffee’s overall effect may depend on how much the positive and negative effects balance out.

In excess, coffee, and more particularly, caffeine, can cause problems for some people Nervousness, rapid heart, heartburn and excessive urination head the list. But study results keep coming that suggest coffee does have some health benefits, including a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and some cancers.

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 seven per cent.

In addition, another study found that women who drink at least four cups of coffee a day are less than half as likely to develop diabetes as non-coffee drinkers, according to research published in the journal, Diabetes.

Caffeine has been studied more than any other ingredient in coffee. But coffee contains literally a thousand different substances and its most common components are caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid and caffeine.

However, some researchers in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry think that caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid and caffeine in coffee seem to block the toxic accumulation of a protein linked with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

All three had an effect. However, caffeic acid was best. Caffeine was the least good of the three.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type. In those who have it, the body does not have enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. The insulin, made by the pancreas, is crucial to move glucose to the cells for energy.

Meanwhile, results of the study also suggested that decaffeinated coffee works too, to reduce risk against diabetes. In decaffeinated coffee, the percentage contents of caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid are even higher [than in regular coffee, whereas the level of caffeine is greatly reduced.

Incidentally, the researchers stated that in patients who already have diabetes, several studies suggested that decaffeinated coffee is better for them than regular coffee.

What is more, researchers indicated that diabetics were better taking decaffeinated coffee because it can both prevent and treat memory decline caused by type 2 diabetes, aging, and/or neurodegenerative disorders. Glucose utilisation in the brain is reduced in people with type 2 diabetes, which can lead to cognitive problems.

In the study of mice with Type 2 diabetes, those that consumed decaffeinated coffee for five months were able to better utilise sugar in their brains than those who did not consume decaffeinated coffee reported researchers in the journal, Nutritional Neuroscience.

However, Dr Williams Balogun, an endocrinologist and member, SIDCAIN, a research group which is targeted at diabetes education, awareness creation and health facilitator-capacity building, stated that for now, coffee cannot be recommended for prevention of diabetes because the studies linking coffee use with diabetes protection are not conclusive.

“It is not conclusive that coffee prevents diabetes. Currently, there are many scientific studies for and against the benefit of coffee for diabetes prevention. In fact, one study even stated that people that drink coffee are at increased risk of developing diabetes,” said Dr Balogun.

Dr Balogun, who stated he would never advise that individuals drink coffee to prevent diabetes, declared “I know some other health problems drinking coffee can cause. For instance, people with heart problems are not advised to take coffee.”

He stated that any advice that will be given on whether or not a person should drink coffee would be individualistic as well as take into consideration other medical problems an individual might have as well.

“In fact, if a patient has heart problem, I would not advice that he should drink coffee because he wants to prevent diabetes. Whatever advice is given should be based on scientific evidences and I do not have scientific evidence to say coffee protects against diabetes.”

Coffee intake is not recommended for everybody due to the fact that it is associated with cardiovascular health risks such as elevated blood cholesterol and blood pressure, both of which lead to an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, and premature death. These negative effects have primarily been attributed to the high caffeine content of coffee.

However, a school of thought indicated that since the link between a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and coffee cannot be proved as one causing the other, only that there was an association between those two factors, it could be that people who drink coffee have other habits that lower their risk of diabetes.

Nevertheless, Dr Balogun who advised that people can prevent diabetes should take to lifestyle measures proved to be effective, declared, “If you want to prevent diabetes, there are some very straightforward things to do. You can walk for 30 minutes most days of the week, and reduce calories a little bit and reduce your weight a little.”

Here’s a rundown of how coffee is thought to affect various medical conditions:
•Alzheimer’s disease: Some evidence suggests that coffee protect against beta-amyloid plaque that may have a role in causing Alzheimer’s.
•Cancer: Studies suggest a lower risk for some tumours (endometrial, aggressive prostate and oestrogen-negative breast cancers). Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substances could be responsible.
•Heart attack: Coffee drinking increases some factors (homocysteine) associated with higher risk. But one to three cups a day has been linked to a small decrease in risk.
•Liver disease: Coffee drinking is associated with lower levels of enzymes that indicate liver damage and inflammation.
•Parkinson’s disease: Studies show a 25 per cent decrease in risk for coffee drinkers. The effect is smaller in women.
•Stroke: Three to four cups a day is associated with lower risk. But chance of a stroke may increase immediately after intake, particularly among infrequent drinkers.
•Migraine headache: The caffeine in coffee helps ease migraine headache in some people by narrowing the expanded blood vessels in the brain that cause migraine pain.

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