SHBG - How Does Coffee Protect Against Diabetes?
The American Diabetes Association estimates that nearly 24 million children and adults in the U.S. have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease and accounts for about 90 to 95 percent of these cases. Some studies have shown that coffee may be protective against type 2 diabetes. No one has determined why but researchers at UCLA have discovered a possible molecular mechanism behind coffee's protective effect. The protein sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) regulates the biological activity of the body's sex hormones, testosterone and estrogen, which have long been thought to play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes. And coffee consumption, a new study in Diabetes says, increases plasma levels of SHBG. read more