Tea may make diabetes worse - or not …
The BBC reports that daily consumption of caffeine in coffee, tea or soft drinks increases blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes.
Caffeine pills equivalent to four cups of coffee a day increased blood sugar levels by 8% over the day, US researchers report in Diabetes Care.
A cup of coffee contains between two and three times more caffeine than a cup of tea (although, interestingly, coffee contains less caffeine than tea when measured in its dry form - anyone want to explain that?)
So if you’re a type 2 diabetic, take care.
Type 1 diabetics can presumably continue their caffeine intake with gay abandon.
But hang on!
What’s this, tucked away at the bottom of the article?
Cathy Moulton, care advisor at Diabetes UK, said: “Although this is interesting research, the study only examined a sample of 10 people for a 72-hour period, which proves very little.”
Too bloody right! This isn’t the first time that we’ve had “scientific evidence” touted as fact internationally when the tests have, in fact, been carried out on a pitifully small scale. There was that incident with the Germans, for example.
It’s just not on.
I’m off to do my own scientific study right now. I’ll report back once I’ve spoken to a couple of people.