The impact of a high blood caffeine level has been explored by researchers looking at body mass and diabetes.
A small amount of previous research suggests that caffeine intake can lead to weight reduction, body fat reduction, and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease but the long term effects are unclear, researchers say.
So Dr Dipender Gill of Imperial College London, UK, and international colleagues carried out a genome-wide study of around 10,000 people to look for links between lifetime markers of plasma caffeine and health outcomes.
Variants of the CYP1A2 and AHR genes are associated with the speed of caffeine metabolism. Hence people with certain variants metabolise caffeine more slowly and have higher levels of caffeine in their blood.
The analysis found that high genetically predicted caffeine levels in the blood were linked to a low body mass index and overall body fat mass.
In today’s BMJ Medicine they also report that high genetically predicted caffeine levels were linked to a low risk of type 2 diabetes. About half of the beneficial effect of caffeine on type 2 diabetes was estimated to be due to a lower body mass index.
A daily intake of 100mg caffeine has been estimated to increase energy expenditure by about 100 calories a day,
“Higher plasma caffeine concentrations might reduce adiposity and risk of type 2 diabetes,” the authors write.
“Randomised controlled trials are warranted to assess whether non-caloric caffeine containing beverages might play a role in reducing the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.”
Larsson, S. C. et al. Appraisal of the causal effect of plasma caffeine on adiposity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease: two sample mendelian randomisation study. BMJ Medicine 14 March 2023 doi: 10.1136/bmjmed-2022-000335
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