Coffee is not Caffeine: When Researchers Make Dumb Equations

This one comes out of Duke University (2008, January 28), a world-renown institution at which one would think researchers would have gotten the memo that, especially in the world of biology, context matters.

The article, Cutting Caffeine May Help Control Diabetes, from ScienceDaily, makes the now common logical and biological error of equating the chemical caffeine with foods that contain caffeine.

Anyone who has experienced the difference between drinking coffee and taking caffeine pills knows what I'm talking about.

It doesn't take a scientist to know that somehow the body sees a big difference between downing a couple of "No-Doz" pills and drinking even the "equivalent" amount of caffeine.

That's because, in the body, the caffeine in coffee apparently is modulated by the literally thousands---yes, thousands---of compounds in complex relationships with each other and with chemicals produced by the body that is nowhere near equatable with the consumption of pure caffeine.

The Duke University study did the following:

Participants took capsules containing caffeine equal to about four cups of coffee on one day and then identical capsules that contained a placebo on another day. Everyone had the same nutrition drink for breakfast, but were free to eat whatever they liked for lunch and dinner.

The researchers found that when the participants consumed caffeine, their average daily sugar levels went up 8 per cent. Caffeine also exaggerated the rise in glucose after meals: increasing by 9 percent after breakfast, 15 percent after lunch and 26 per cent after dinner.

Please.

Whether caffeine, in its purified, pill form, does or does not effect blood glucose levels and, thus, diabetes, is not my point. What I want to point out is that it's not helpful in the least---and, in fact, it seems kind of dumb---that researchers ignore the incredibly complex nature of a food that delivers a chemical, caffeine, in a biologically meaningful context and blithely assume that pure caffeine, not modulated by that incredibly complex food, effects the body the same way.

Coffee is NOT caffeine. To wit:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2007, August 2). Coffee Drinking Related To Reduced Risk Of Liver Cancer. ScienceDaily.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2007, May 25). Drinking Four Or More Cups Of Coffee A Day May Help Prevent Gout. ScienceDaily.

American Academy Of Neurology (2000, November 14). Study Ties Coffee Use With Lowered Parkinson's Risk. ScienceDaily.

JAMA and Archives Journals (2006, June 28). Coffee Intake Linked To Lower Diabetes Risk. ScienceDaily.

Harvard School Of Public Health (2004, January 6). Long-Term Coffee Consumption Significantly Reduces Type 2 Diabetes Risk. ScienceDaily.

One message is: if you're worred about blood sugar levels, stay away from caffeine pills!