Lower Death Risk in People With Diabetes Who Drink Green Tea and Coffee Daily - SciTechDaily

Drinking plenty of both green tea and coffee is linked to a lower risk of dying from any cause among people with type 2 diabetes, suggests research published in the online journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

Drinking 4 or more daily cups of green tea plus 2 or more of coffee was associated with a 63% lower risk of death over a period of around 5 years, the findings show.

The researchers therefore decided to explore the potential impact of green tea and coffee, separately and combined, on the risk of death among people with the condition.

They tracked the health of 4923 Japanese people (2790 men, 2133 women) with type 2 diabetes (average age 66) for an average of just over 5 years.

They each filled in a 58-item food and drink questionnaire, which included questions on how much green tea and coffee they drank every day.

Some 607 of the participants didn’t drink green tea; 1143 drank up to a cup a day; 1384 drank 2-3 cups; and 1784 drank 4 or more.

Nearly 1000 (994) of the participants didn’t drink coffee; 1306 drank up to 1 cup daily; 963 drank a cup every day; while 1660 drank 2 or more cups.

Compared with those who drank neither beverage, those who drank one or both had lower odds of dying from any cause, with the lowest odds associated with drinking higher quantities of both green tea and coffee.

Drinking up to 1 cup of green tea every day was associated with 15% lower odds of death; while drinking 2-3 cups was associated with 27% lower odds.

Getting through 4 or more daily cups was associated with 40% lower odds.

Among coffee drinkers, up to 1 daily cup was associated with 12% lower odds; while 1 cup a day was associated with 19% lower odds.

And 2 or more cups was associated with 41% lower odds.

The risk of death was even lower for those who drank both green tea and coffee every day: 51% lower for 2-3 cups of green tea plus 2 or more of coffee; 58% lower for 4 or more cups of green tea plus 1 cup of coffee every day; and 63% lower for a combination of 4 or more cups of green tea and 2 or more cups of coffee every day.

And the researchers point to several caveats, including the reliance on subjective assessments of the quantities of green tea and coffee drunk.

“This prospective cohort study demonstrated that greater consumption of green tea and coffee was significantly associated with reduced all-cause mortality: the effects may be additive,” the researchers conclude.

Reference: “Additive effects of green tea and coffee on all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: the Fukuoka Diabetes Registry” 20 October 2020, BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care?