◎鄭寺音

Tea and coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a large body of evidence shows. And the protection may not be down to caffeine since decaf coffee has the greatest effect, say researchers in Archives of Internal Medicine.

大量證據顯示，喝茶與咖啡的人罹患第二型糖尿病機率較低，「內科醫學文獻」的研究人員說，這種保護作用可能不是因為咖啡因，因為無咖啡因咖啡效果預防糖尿病的效果最好。

They looked at 18 separate studies involving nearly 500,000 people. This analysis revealed that people who drink three or four cups of coffee or tea a day cut their risk by a fifth or more, say researchers. The same amount of decaffeinated coffee had an even bigger effect, lowering risk by a third.

他們研究18份、50萬人參與的研究，這項分析顯示，每天喝3或4杯咖啡或茶的人，罹患機率降低5分之1以上。同樣攝取量的無咖啡因咖啡效果甚至更好，會降低3分之1的風險。

Type 2 diabetes usually starts after the age of 40 and develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly. Type 2 diabetes is treated with a healthy diet and increased physical activity. In addition to this, medication and/or insulin is often required.

第二型糖尿病好發在40歲以後，病因是身體雖能製造一些胰島素、但量並不足夠；或是製造的胰島素不能適當運作。第二型糖尿病會以健康飲食輔以增加身體活動來治療，通常還需要藥物與／或胰島素。

If the findings prove true, doctors may well start advising people to put the kettle on as well as take more exercise and watch their weight, say the researchers. When the authors combined and analysed the data, they found that each additional cup of coffee consumed in a day cut diabetes risk by 7%.

研究人員說，如果這些研究屬實，醫師或許可以開始建議人們燒水泡茶，做更多運動，注意體重。作者整合與分析數據時，他們發現每天多喝一杯咖啡可降低7%的糖尿病風險。

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