Fast-food + coffee = soaring blood sugar (Canada)

"Eating a fatty fast-food meal can result in blood-sugar levels spiking, and chasing it with caffeinated coffee doubles the trouble, Canadian researchers say. Marie-Soleil Beaudoin, a doctoral student at the University of Guelph in Ontario, with Professors Lindsay Robinson and Terry Graham, discovered not only that a healthy person's blood-sugar level spikes after eating a high-fat meal, and it doubles if caffeinated coffee is added - jumping to levels similar to those of people at risk for diabetes. In the study, healthy men drank about 1 gram of a fat-laden beverage - a fat cocktail that contains only lipids - for every kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body weight. Six hours later, they were given a sugar drink. When people eat sugar, the body produces insulin, which takes the sugar out of the blood and distributes it to our muscles, Beaudoin explains. The study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, found that the fatty meal affected the body's ability to clear the sugar out of the blood - blood-sugar levels were 32 percent higher than they were when the men had not ingested the fat cocktail. However, after they received two cups of caffeinated coffee 5 hours after ingesting the fat beverage and later a sugar drink - blood-sugar levels increased by 65 percent"

Study suggests lower stroke risk in women who drink at least a cup of coffee a day

"Women who enjoy a daily dose of coffee may like this perk: It might lower their risk of stroke. Women in a Swedish study who drank at least a cup of coffee every day had a 22 to 25 percent lower risk of stroke, compared to those who drank less coffee or none at all. "Coffee drinkers should rejoice," said Dr. Sharonne N. Hayes, a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "Coffee is often made out to be potentially bad for your heart. There really hasn't been any study that convincingly said coffee is bad." "If you are drinking coffee now, you may be doing some good and you are likely not doing harm," she added. But Hayes and other doctors say the study shouldn't send non-coffee drinkers running to their local coffee shop. The study doesn't prove that coffee lowers stroke risk, only that coffee drinkers tend to have a lower stroke risk."

Health Canada warns Canadians not to use "The Slimming Coffee" or "Lose Weight Coffee"

"Health Canada is warning consumers not to use the unauthorized product "The Slimming Coffee," which was previously sold as "Lose Weight Coffee," because it was found to contain the undeclared prescription drug sibutramine and may pose serious health risks. This product is promoted as a natural coffee beverage used for weight-loss. Sibutramine is used to treat obesity and should only be used under the supervision of a health care practitioner. Sibutramine may cause serious side effects including cardiovascular reactions such as increased blood pressure, chest pain, and stroke. Other side effects include dry mouth, difficulty sleeping and constipation. Sibutramine should not be taken by people who have had a heart attack, coronary artery disease, heart-related chest pain, irregular heart beats, congestive heart failure, a stroke or symptoms of a stroke, or unstable or poorly controlled high blood pressure. It should also not be taken by patients who have clinically diagnosed depression or a psychiatric illness and are taking prescription drugs such as antidepressants and antipsychotics, or herbal preparations such as St. John’s Wort. Sibutramine is not recommended for women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or planning to become pregnant"

Coffee seen OK for diabetic men

"There's reassuring news for coffee lovers with type 2 diabetes. Drinking even fairly high amounts of coffee does not raise the risk of developing heart diseases in diabetic men or increase their risk of dying early, according to a brief report in the medical journal Diabetes Care"