A study by the University of Coimbra (Portugal) has revealed that caffeine, polyphenols and other natural products present in coffee can help reduce the severity of non -alcoholic fatty liver disease (EHGNA) in overweight people and diabetes of diabetes and diabetes ofType 2 (DMT2).
The non -alcoholic fatty liver is a collective term for liver disorders caused by an accumulation of fat in the liver.They can cause liver fibrosis, which can progress to cirrhosis (liver healing) and liver cancer.EHGNA is not a consequence of excessive alcohol consumption, but of an unhealthy lifestyle, with little exercise and a hypercaloric diet.
The participants in the study with greater coffee consumption had healthier livers.Those with higher levels of caffeine were less likely to suffer hepatic fibrosis, while the highest levels of coffee without caffeine components were significantly associated with reduced scores of the fatty liver index.
The study, published in the scientific journal 'Nutrients', suggests that, in patients with type 2 diabetes and overweight, greater coffee consumption is associated with a less serious non -alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The researchers surveyed 156 medium -sized participants with a limit obesity on their coffee consumption, of which 98 suffered from type 2 diabetes and provided 24 -hour urine samples.
They were used to measure caffeine and metabolites other than caffeine, that is, the natural products of coffee decomposition by the body.This methodology follows a recent change towards urine analysis instead of self -declared consumption, to obtain more defined quantitative data on coffee intake.
Caffeine intake is associated with a decrease in liver fibrosis in EHGNA and other chronic liver diseases.It has been suggested that other coffee components, including polyphenols, reduce oxidative stress in the liver, in turn reducing the risk of fibrosis and improving glucose homeostasis in both healthy and overweight subjects.All these factors can also relieve the severity of type 2 diabetes.
"Due to changes in modern diet and lifestyle, there is an increase in rates of obesity and incidence of both type 2 diabetes and non -alcoholic fatty liver disease, which can ultimately canBecoming more serious and irreversible conditions, which is a burden for health systems.
Our research is the first to observe that the highest accumulated amounts of metabolites with and without caffeine in urine are associated with a lower severity of EHGNA in overweight people and type 2 diabetes, "said the main author of the study, theDoctor John Griffith Jones, principal researcher at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology at the University of Coimbra.