Symposium report Coffee and Metabolic Syndrome

A review of the latest research – content:

• Foreword
• Executive Summary
• Introduction – metabolic syndrome in Europe
• Coffee consumption – reduced risk of metabolic syndrome
• Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee
• A role for polyphenols?
• Discussion
• Federation of European Nutrition SocietiesAbout ISIC
• References

Executive summary:

Meta-analyses have suggested that coffee consumption at a level of 1–4 cups of coffee per day is associated with a reduced risk of MetS in observational studies (1–4). However, some variability is seen across studies but the overall results suggest an inverse association. Research suggests that specific components of MetS, namely type 2 diabetes and hypertension, are also inversely associated with coffee consumption (5,6). Associations with obesity are less clear (7). A moderate coffee intake is considered to be 3–5 cups of coffee a day, in line with advice from the European Food Safety Authority’s ‘Scientific opinion on the safety of caffeine’ (8).

Researchers have considered a role for polyphenols contained in coffee and studies in both northern and southern European cohorts have identified that the phenolic acids, a type of polyphenol, may be involved in the effects described (3,4).

Further research is required to clarify the associations between coffee and MetS,and provide more detail on the mechanisms involved.

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