Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world, known for its taste and energy-boosting effects.
But now, researchers have discovered that it may also help manage blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
A new study has found compounds in roasted coffee that can strongly block an enzyme involved in sugar digestion.
The enzyme is called α-glucosidase. It plays a major role in breaking down carbohydrates from the food we eat. Once broken down, these sugars quickly enter the bloodstream. For people with type 2 diabetes, managing how fast sugar enters the blood is very important. If this process happens too quickly, it can lead to harmful spikes in blood sugar.
Researchers from the Kunming Institute of Botany in China, led by Minghua Qiu, used advanced technology to study the chemicals in roasted Coffea arabica beans. Their findings were published in the journal Beverage Plant Research.
This study is part of a growing effort to explore functional foods—foods that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. These include foods that contain natural compounds that may lower blood sugar, protect the brain, or fight inflammation.
Studying food for these health benefits can be hard because food contains many different chemicals.
To solve this, the team used a method that combined several high-tech tools, including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). These tools helped them find and study compounds that are difficult to detect using older methods.
First, the researchers broke down the coffee extract into 19 smaller parts using a special separation method. Then they tested each part to see if it could block the α-glucosidase enzyme.
They found that five of these parts were especially active. By studying one of these in more detail, they were able to isolate three new compounds that had never been reported before. These were named caffaldehydes A, B, and C.
The researchers then tested how well these new compounds worked compared to a common diabetes drug called acarbose. All three of the coffee compounds blocked the enzyme more strongly than the drug. This is a big deal because it shows the coffee chemicals may be even more effective at slowing down sugar digestion.
But the team didn’t stop there. They used another method called LC-MS/MS to search for even more compounds. This led to the discovery of three additional molecules related to the first three. Although they looked similar, they had different types of fatty acids attached. These new compounds had also never been found before.
This study shows that roasted coffee contains a wider variety of helpful compounds than previously thought. It also shows that using powerful lab tools together can help scientists find these rare and important substances more quickly and with less waste.
The discovery opens the door to creating new coffee-based products that may help people manage their blood sugar levels. These could include special functional foods or supplements. Future research will look at how these compounds behave in the body and whether they are safe and effective for long-term use.
In summary, coffee might offer more health benefits than just keeping you awake. This research shows that it may contain natural compounds that could help people with diabetes control their blood sugar. The same scientific methods used in this study could be applied to other foods in the future to find even more health-supporting ingredients.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about diabetes and vitamin B12, and the right diet for people with type 2 diabetes.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how to eat smart with diabetes, and turmeric and vitamin D: a duo for blood pressure control in diabetic patients.
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