Drinking high amounts of coffee (more than four cups per day) does not raise the risk of developing heart disease in diabetic men or increase their risk of premature death, according to a new report in the June 2009 issue of Diabetes Care.
In this study, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health looked at the coffee drinking habits and incidence of heart disease and overall mortality in 3497 men with type 2 diabetes between 1986 and 2004.
None of these diabetic men had heart disease at the start of the study, and they all completed several dietary questionnaires during the 8-year follow-up.
Overall, the researchers found that consumption of coffee - even four or more cups per day - did not significantly increase the risk of heart disease compared with non-coffee drinkers.
This finding held true even after accounting for smoking status and how long the men had been living with Type 2 diabetes.
Previous evidence has suggested that caffeine may impair diabetics' ability to process glucose.
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