Three key points from the document: 1. Research has found that people who drink 3-4 cups of coffee per day have a 25% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who drink less than 2 cups per day. Clinical trials also found lower early glucose and insulin responses after consuming chemicals found in coffee. 2. Several theories exist for how coffee could improve blood sugar regulation, such as increasing energy expenditure and metabolism or chemicals affecting glucose balance and insulin sensitivity. 3. Moderate coffee consumption is also linked to a lower risk of heart disease and cardiovascular problems, and some studies associate it with living longer. More research is still needed but coffee does not appear as unhealthy as previously thought.

1. (NaturalNews) People who drink three to four cups of coffee each day have a lower risk of developing Type II diabetes, according to a
research summary published by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC). The report summarizes the key findings of
recent research into the connection between coffee consumption and diabetes risk, as presented at a session of the 2012 World
Congress on Prevention of Diabetes and Its Complications (WCPD).
The report emphasizes an epidemiological study that found a 25 percent lower risk of developing Type II diabetes among people who
drank three or four cups of coffee per day, when compared with people who drank fewer than two cups per day. It also notes another
epidemiological study, which found a seven to eight percent decrease in the relative risk of developing Type II diabetes for every
additional cup of coffee per day that a person consumed.
Does coffee actually help regulate blood sugar?
Because epidemiological studies are only designed to uncover correlations and cannot speak to whether coffee consumption actually
causes the observed reductions in risk, the report also summarizes the findings of clinical intervention trials. In one such trial,
researchers tested participants' glucose tolerance and insulin levels both before and after consuming 12 grams of decaffeinated coffee,
one gram of chlorogenic acid, 500 mg of trigonelline, and a placebo. They found that early glucose and insulin responses were
significantly lower after the consumption of the chemicals chlorogenic acid and trigonelline, both of which are found in coffee.
The report acknowledges that some people may find an association between coffee and reduced diabetes risk counter intuitive,
since coffee consumption is often associated with unhealthy habits such as smoking and a sedentary lifestyle. This is part of the reason
that researchers are looking for causative rather than correlative explanations.
Several theories have been proposed for exactly how coffee consumption could lead to healthier blood sugar regulation. The "Energy
Expenditure Hypothesis;" for example, proposes that the caffeine in coffee increases the body's energy use and stimulates its
metabolism, helping it process sugar better. The "Carbohydrate Metabolic Hypothesis" proposes that certain chemicals found
in coffee act directly to affect the body's glucose balance. Some scientists have suggested that these chemicals may improve insulin
sensitivity through channels such as hormonal effects, mediation of stress cells, reduction of iron stores and modulation of
inflammatory pathways.
The report further notes that moderate coffee consumption is actually correlated with a lower risk of heart failure, and is not associated
with a higher risk of high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease. According to some studies, it may even lengthen life.
"A dose-dependent inverse association between coffee drinking and total mortality has been demonstrated in general population and it
persists among diabetics," writes report author Pilar Riobo Servan of the Jimenez Diaz-Capio Hospital of Madrid, Spain.
"Although more research on the effect of coffee in health is yet needed, current information suggests that coffee is not as bad as
previously considered!"
Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes, already a huge health problem, is increasingly rapidly. More than 1.4 million people in the UK are known to have diabetes
and even more people in the UK have diabetes but don't even know it!
In Diabetes the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood is abnormally high because the body's method of converting glucose into
energy is not functioning correctly. A hormone called insulin, made by the pancreas gland, controls the amount of glucose in our
blood. Insulin helps glucose enter body cells where it is used as fuel for all the body's metabolic processes.
After we eat, blood glucose levels rise and insulin is released into the blood, allowing glucose to enter the cells where it is needed.
When the blood glucose level falls (e.g. during exercise), the level of insulin falls. Glucose levels in the blood that are too high or too
low can cause health complications. Insulin, therefore, plays a vital role in regulating the level of blood glucose and, in particular,
stopping blood glucose from rising too high.
Amputation as a consequence of diabetes mellitus is becoming an increasingly serious public health problem and a problem that is
commonly treated in the physical therapy clinic. Traditionally, physical therapists have devoted most of their efforts to treating the
residual limb and have neglected caring for the other leg. This review examines the epidemiology of diabetic gangrene with
consequent amputation and provides ideas for preventive measures and research directed at decreasing the occurrence of gangrene and
its complications.
Amputation as a Consequence of Diabetes Mellitus
An Epidemiological Review
Jeffrey E Falkel

2. Patients with diabetes mellitus are at risk of leg ulcers. These eventually become infected, respond poorly to treatment and
often require amputation of the foot or part of the leg.
Several factors combine to increase the chances of a leg ulcer developing. One of these is the loss of nerve conduction to the lower
extremity so that patient's don't feel symptoms of a developing ulcer (pain) and don't recognize its early presence. It is also known that
such neuropathy (declining nerve function) occurs most frequently and earliest in longer nerves, such as those going to the legs.
In this study, the authors looked at rates of amputation among close to 100 000 patients with diabetes mellitus and found that height
was a strong predictor of amputation. In the whole study population, every 10-cm increase in height was associated with a 16%
increase in risk of amputation. In the subgroup of patients for whom data on fasting plasma glucose levels and dyslipidemia were
available, the risk of amputation was even greater (79% relative increase in risk of amputation. This finding was independent of other
factors such as the adequacy of diabetes control.
These findings, particularly that the risk of amputation was present even among patients who had good control of their diabetes and
other risk factors, should prompt clinicians and patients to be alert to the increased risk of neuropathy and diabetic ulcers in taller
patients.