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Abstract

Obesity may be defined as the accumulation of fat to an extent that the health of the individual is impaired. The truncal obesity, which is fat mainly distributed around the abdomen and viscera, is particularly correlated with the prevalence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Diabesity - term used to describe the coexistence of diabetes type 2 and obesity - is responsible for more than 90% of the world�s 382 million people with diabetes type 2, and this number is set to rise beyond 592 million in less than 25 years. Yet, with 175 million of cases currently undiagnosed, a vast amount of people with diabetes are progressing towards complications unawares. Coffee has been claimed to have preventative effects against the development of type-2 diabetes and is one of the most popular beverages consumed worldwide. The chemical composition of the coffee that we drink has not been known since the ground coffee sold in the market is usually a mix of beans with different degrees of roasting. Assuming that a quality coffee is provided we can attribute some properties seen with the individual constituents from coffee, such as caffeine and chlorogenic acids, as the role players in fighting obesity and diabetes. We present a review from in vitro and animal studies, as well as from various epidemiological studies with populations of coffee drinkers and nondrinkers and the results we have so far.

Biography

Santos has completed her PhD in 2005 from State University of New York at Buffalo. She moved to USA in 1999 after 16 years of successful career as pharmacist in the areas of academia, industry and government in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She wrote books in collaboration with Brazilian experts on her research field of Coffee and Health benefits. She has served as consultant for coffee companies and peer reviewer for various journals of repute. Presently, she is focused in the validation of biomarkers for coffee consumption and development of coffee products as nutraceuticals.