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Green Tea
Lowers Risk of Developing Diabetes
Several studies have suggested that green tea can
help control weight by slightly speeding up metabolism and encouraging
the body to burn extra calories. Although
obesity does not directly cause diabetes, there is a link between the
two conditions. So can green tea also help combat diabetes? To
answer this question, a team of Japanese researchers looked at the
effects of green tea, oolong tea, black tea, coffee, and total caffeine
intake on the risk of developing diabetes.
For the study, more than 17,000 people with no
history of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer were
interviewed about their lifestyle habits, including their consumption of
coffee, green tea, black tea and oolong tea. Five years later, the study
participants completed a follow-up questionnaire.
The results, published in the Annals of Internal
Medicine, showed that there was an inverse association between green
tea consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes. That is, the more green
tea a person drank (up to 6 cups a day), the less risk he or she had of
developing the disease. (Consumption of coffee and caffeine were also
protective.) Interestingly enough, the link between green tea and a
decreased risk of developing diabetes was much stronger in women than in
men.
The researchers concluded that consumption of green
tea, coffee and total caffeine were associated with a reduced risk for
type 2 diabetes.
(Iso
H, Date C, Wakai K, et al. The relationship between green tea and total
caffeine intake and risk for self-reported type 2 diabetes among
Japanese adults. Ann Intern Med. 2006;144(8):554-62.)
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Nadine Taylor, M.S., R.D. presents
GreenTeaLibrary.com, the most
comprehensive collection of scientific information describing the
health benefits of green tea.
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