Drinking coffee itself is not associated with the risk of obesity or diabetes

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed drinks in daily life, and the effect of coffee on human health has always been a research hotspot. Drinking coffee itself does not seem to increase or reduce the risk of lifestyle diseases such as metabolic syndrome, obesity and type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Hailaiu and Genzoft Hospitals in Denmark conducted a Mendelian randomized study of 93179 individuals from two large cohorts. The objectives of the study are as follows: 1. To observe whether drinking large amounts of coffee can reduce the risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes. 2. Are the five genetic variants near the CYP1A1, CYP1A2 and AHR genes associated with coffee consumption? 3. Are these genetic variants associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes? 4. Finally, 78021 individuals were included in meta analysis to explore the genetic association of type 2 diabetes.

Based on the observations, the researchers found that heavy coffee consumption was associated with a reduced risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. In addition, heavy coffee consumption was associated with elevated BMI, waist circumference, weight, height, diastolic / systolic blood pressure, triglyceride, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels, but not with blood glucose levels.

The researchers also assessed the effect of genes on people's desire to drink coffee and found that individuals with certain genes drank more coffee than those who did not.

Their analysis found that heavy coffee consumption due to genetic factors was not associated with previously mentioned metabolic factors or metabolic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Conclusion: the results of observational studies suggest that drinking large amounts of coffee can reduce the risk of obesity, metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes, and is associated with indicators related to these diseases. however, there is no genetic evidence to support the corresponding causal relationship between these observations.

Lead researcher Ask Tybjaeg Nordestgaard said this is the first study in the world to investigate the association between genetic and lifestyle diseases associated with lifelong heavy coffee consumption. These genes are completely independent of other lifestyle factors, so we can be sure that coffee consumption itself is not associated with the risk of lifestyle diseases.

"We now know that coffee-related genes are not associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes or obesity, which is different from what we thought, suggesting that coffee consumption neither causes nor prevents these lifestyle diseases," said Boerge Nordestgaard, a clinical professor at the University of Copenhagen.