The result was the same for caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, taken with or without sugar. However, people who drank coffee at any other time of day were not able to alter significantly their risk of diabetes.

While more than 10 studies have linked increased coffee drinking to lowered type 2 diabetes risk, timing has never been considered a factor until now. Daniela S. Sartorelli of the University of Sao Paulo in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil said that her team's findings strongly suggested that only coffee taken with lunch affected diabetes risk.

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If you want to cut diabetes risk, have coffee at lunch time! Consumption of coffee reduces the risk of diabetes especially type 2 diabetes which has a close link with obesity.

Researchers found that those who consumed 3 cups of coffee regularly had 27% less chances of becoming diabetic.

It was also found that just lunchtime coffee drinking reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Those who consume 3 cups of coffee each day have 33% lesser chances of becoming diabetic. In this regard black coffee is more effective in reducing the risk of diabetes.

A study in nearly 70,000 women found that those who drank at least a cup of coffee with lunch were one-third less likely to develop type 2 diabetes over several years than non-coffee drinkers. This was true for decaf and caffeinated coffee, with or without sugar. But drinking coffee at any other time of the day didn't influence diabetes risk at all.

"Our findings strongly suggest that only coffee taken with lunch may reduce diabetes risk," Dr. Daniela S. Sartorelli of the University of Sao Paulo in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, and her colleagues wrote in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Over a dozen studies have linked coffee drinking to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes -- the type closely linked to obesity. But the mechanism behind the relationship hasn't been established and no studies have looked at whether the timing of coffee drinking influences this effect.

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 People with disturbances in their heart rhythms are often advised to avoid caffeinated coffee, but a new study shows that moderate coffee drinking actually reduces the risk of being hospitalized for heart rhythm problems.

''People who reported four or more cups a day had almost an 18% reduction in the risk of being hospitalized for rhythm disturbances," says study researcher Arthur L. Klatsky, MD,  senior consultant in cardiology at Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.

The findings are due to be presented at this week's American Heart Association's 50th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in San Francisco. While experts have long known that very large doses of caffeine, coffee's most active ingredient, are linked with rhythm disturbances, less research has been done on the effect of typical daily coffee intake. The results are somewhat surprising, Klatsky says, since patients sometimes report feeling palpitations after drinking coffee.

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Drinking four cups of coffee a day may protect the heart, scientists said yesterday. Despite the belief that coffee can cause the heart to go into palpitations, a study indicates moderate drinkers may be at a lower risk of having heart rhythm disturbances.

More than 130,000 men and women were studied. Those drinking four or more cups of coffee a day had an 18 per cent lower risk of going to hospital for heart disturbances.

Those who had drunk between one and three cups had a 7 per cent reduction of risk. Tony Blair has blamed his heart problems while he was prime minister on too much strong coffee during an EU conference - and doctors advised him to cut back.

He was suffering from atrial fibrillation, the most common form of heart rhythm problem. Left untreated, it can increase the risk of heart attack. But the latest research suggests his doctors may have been wrong  and coffee may have had nothing to do with his irregular heartbeat.

Lead investigator Dr Arthur Klatsky, a cardiologist at the Kaiser Permanente health insurance company, said the study did not conclusively prove coffee protects the heart - just that there was some sort of link.

Regular coffee drinking appears to reduce the risk of stroke, a new study indicates. The study of 23,000 men and women who were followed for an average of 12 years found that "self-reported coffee consumption was inversely related to stroke risk," said study leader Yangmei Li, an epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge in England.

Li was to present the findings Thursday at American Stroke Association's annual stroke conference, in San Antonio. Overall, people who reported any intake of coffee had a 27 percent lower risk of stroke than those who said they never drank java, the researchers reported. Drinking more coffee was not associated with a greater reduction in stroke risk.

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J.M. Smucker Co.'s third-quarter got a jolt from its Folgers coffee business, which helped the food maker nearly double its profit on strong sales.

Smucker has been successful with its a recession-friendly lineup of food staples such as Jif peanut butter, Pillsbury frosting and its namesake jellies and jams.

As consumers began eating at home more often. But its $3 billion acquisition of Folgers Coffee from Procter & Gamble Co. more than a year ago has been the major driver in its recent profit gains.

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Your next cup o' java may spill the beans about your personality, experts say. How you take your coffee can expose your self-esteem, stress levels and even offer a peak at your sex life, says the new book The You Code by Australian body language experts Judi James and James Moore.

"(People) usually begin by arguing they're not as described but then colleagues/family/friends pitch in to let them know they are," says James, who came up with the coffee preference idea by spending huge amounts of time in coffee houses. "Many people have said they found (the book) spookily accurate."

The book covers hidden meaning behind the other choices from favourite TV shows to the type of handbag you carry -- even to the choice of stuffing in your turkey. According to James and Moore, the decaf soy milk drinkers are a bunch of self-righteous eco-worrier and attention seekers. They have a tendency to be picky, fussy and squeamish in the bedroom. Yikes!

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Coffee futures in New York may jump 21 percent in two months as roasters scramble to find higher- quality supplies, said Mark Hansen, a trading director at researcher and asset-manager CPM Group. The premium of arabica beans from Columbia, the world’s second-biggest producer, has more than doubled in the past year versus New York futures. The nation’s production dropped to a 33-year low as excess rain and scarce use of fertilizers lowered yields. Arabica inventories monitored by ICE Futures U.S. have extended a slide to the lowest level in seven years.

“Roasters are turning to the exchange as a source of reasonable quality coffee at cheaper prices,” Hansen said today in an interview. “There is also little incentive for producers to deliver against the ICE contract with high physical prices being paid.”

Cash prices of Colombian coffee, the premium variety used in specialty shops such as Starbucks Corp., jumped 44 percent to $2.0486 a pound in the 12 months ended Feb. 19. Arabica futures were up 22 percent. Futures may reach $1.60 in the next two months as inventories dwindle, Hansen said. He structures hedges and trades for producers and consumers at New York-based CPM. The most-active contract last reached that level in February 2008.

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 While sugar has been the soft commodity star over the past 12 months, coffee prices have done little. Analysts at Barclays Capital suggest 2010 could prove a different story for coffee given the potential for supply side issues to impact on the market.

As Barclays points out, coffee is really a simple story in that the market revolves around Brazil and Columbia as the two largest producers, Brazil of arabica and Columbia of the washed milds varieties, which are the deliverable type of arabica for contracts on the ICE Futures Exchange.

On its numbers Barclays expects the coffee market will report a one million bag deficit in 2009/10, an outcome it suggests will support average prices for the ICE front month arabica contract of US$1.41 per pound over the first half of 2010.

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