Background: Coffee intake may be associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus because of minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants in coffee, but the role of caffeine is unclear. Our objective was to examine the association between total, caffeinated, and decaffeinated coffee intake, as assessed by food frequency questionnaire at baseline, and risk of incident type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Methods: This prospective analysis of the Iowa Women's Health Study (1986-1997) included 28 812 postmenopausal women free of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the general community. The main outcome measure was incident type 2 diabetes mellitus as determined by mailed questionnaire.
Results: Coffee intake was categorized as 0, less than 1, 1 to 3, 4 to 5, and 6 or more cups per day. During 11 years of follow-up, there were 1418 incident cases of diabetes. Relative risks (RRs) were adjusted for a variety of demographic, adiposity, and lifestyle measures. Compared with women who reported 0 cups of coffee per day, women who consumed 6 or more cups per day had a 22% lower risk (RR = 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-1.01) of diabetes (P for linear trend across categories, .06). This association appeared to be largely explained by decaffeinated coffee (RR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.42-1.08; P for trend, .006) rather than regular coffee (RR = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.59-1.05; P for trend, .90). Intake of magnesium and phytate did not explain these associations. Intakes of caffeine from all sources was not associated with risk of diabetes.
Conclusion: Coffee intake, especially decaffeinated, was inversely associated with risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in this cohort of postmenopausal women.