The research group found that a combination of three chemicals
in coffee - caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid and caffeine -
inhibited a toxic compound from forming that is found in
patients with diabetes. These findings suggest that the
beneficial effects of coffee consumption on type 2 diabetes
mellitus may be partly due to the ability of the major coffee
components and metabolites to inhibit the toxic aggregation of
hIAPP (human islet amyloid polypeptide), Ling Zheng, professor
of cellular biology at Wuhan University in China, and colleagues
wrote. By blocking this complex, scientists have be able to
treat or prevent Type 2 diabetes that affects an estimated one
out of 12 Americans, according to the American Diabetes
Association. Our results suggest that caffeic acid had the
greatest effects in the major components of coffee. The rankings
for beneficial effects of coffee compounds against the toxic
hIAPP aggregation are caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid and
caffeine, Zheng and study co-author Kun Huang, professor