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Friday January 4 7:28 PM EST |
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"The statistics in Canada and the western world are startling," says
Prof. Terry Graham of the University of Guelph, who, along with
researchers at Queen's and Waterloo are conducting the three-year
study."Cases are becoming increasingly common, and at younger age groups.
We're finding caffeine can have an unhealthy effect on insulin levels for
people already at risk." Type-2 diabetes accounts for 90 per cent of the diabetes in Canada.
Those with the disease can still produce insulin - the body's blood
glucose regulator - but Graham says they can't produce enough to "get the
job done," and they often have to take drugs to help manage blood sugar
levels. He says the two biggest risk factors are inactivity and obesity. And
there has been a sharp increase in type-2 diabetes in younger people in
western populations. While it was once described as maturity onset, it's now common among
people in their 40s, and increasing obesity in children suggests it will
continue to affect younger age groups. Graham's concern is based on his previous studies involving caffeine's
impact on exercise metabolism using two groups of university-aged men -
one group called "lean," and the other "obese." The subjects were tested
using an oral glucose tolerance test, conducted with and without prior
caffeine ingestion. "Ideally, you want to produce the least amount of insulin to get your
body's glucose level down to normal," Graham says. "We found that obese
individuals have a resistance to insulin, which means they require higher
levels of insulin to adjust their glucose levels. When given caffeine,
their insulin levels go through the roof." This research focused on short-term effects of caffeine. But the new
project will study some long-term effects surrounding caffeine and type-2
diabetes. Among other long-term effects, the researchers will be looking
for signs that the body adapts in habitual caffeine users. "Caffeine is often thought of as a benign drug," says Graham, "and in
many ways, it is. But from what we've seen so far, this research could
lead to important potential treatment for diabetics." |
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