In a study of 25,000 men and women by the National Public Health Institute in Finland, coffee was found to reduce the risk of diabetes.
People who were inactive and overweight, but who drank seven or more cups a day, were half as likely to develop the condition as those who drank the least number of cups.
Type 2 diabetes is a growing health problem ... The risk increases with age -- less than 1 percent of people under 34 have diagnosed diabetes, compared with 10 percent of those aged 75 and over.
Type 2 has been linked to obesity, alcohol and lack of exercise.
In one study, the team from Finland measured glucose tolerance and insulin levels in 2,400 people aged over 45 and found a significant protective effect among coffee drinkers.
In the second study, a team from Helsinki University monitored the health of 10,188 men and 11,197 women aged 35 to 74 for more than 13 years. During that time, 964 people developed diabetes.
When the researchers compared diets and the risk of a diagnosis, they noted that coffee drinking lowered the likelihood of developing the disease.
The risk was also affected by the amount of exercise the coffee drinkers had, their weight and whether they drank alcohol.
Comparing nonobese people who undertook moderate to high levels of physical activity and drank at least seven cups of coffee a day, with obese people who reported low levels of physical activity and drank fewer than two cups of coffee, the latter showed an 11-times higher risk for the development of type 2 diabetes, say the researchers.
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