Coffee and diabetes are two of the most commonly covered topics in current medical news. The latest research looks in detail at some of coffee's ingredients and their potential effects on diabetes.

The prevalence of coffee and diabetes in modern media makes a great deal of sense: almost 1 in 10 Americans are diabetic, and more than half of American adults drink coffee daily. Recent research published in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Natural Products gives us a glimpse into the potential benefits of some of coffee's natural compounds in the management of type 2 diabetes. There are more than 1,000 distinct chemical compounds in coffee, including quinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, acetylmethylcarbinol, dimethyl disulfide, putrescine, niacin, trigonelline, theophylline and our old friend and foe, caffeine. A recent review of the literature concluded that habitual coffee drinking does seem to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. Recent research conducted by Søren Gregersen and colleagues at the Department of Endocrinology and Internal Medicine at Aarhus University Hospital noticed cafestol and caffeic acid threw out some intriguing results.

Cafestol and caffeic acid increased insulin production in the presence of glucose. Cafestol was also found to increase glucose uptake into muscle cells at a similar rate to current diabetes drugs. "This newly demonstrated dual action of cafestol suggests that cafestol may contribute to the preventive effects on type 2 diabetes in coffee drinkers."

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