Now there is a great reason to loll around Starbucks, in addition to WiFi.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Drinking more coffee may reduce the risk of developing the most common form of diabetes, a study found.

Compared to non-coffee drinkers, men who drank more than six eight-ounce cups of caffeinated coffee per day lowered their risk of type 2 diabetes by about half, and women reduced their risk by nearly 30 percent, according to the study in Tuesday's issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

Nevertheless, experts said more research is needed to establish whether it really is the coffee - or something else about coffee drinkers - that protects them.

``The evidence is quite strong that regular coffee is protective against diabetes,'' said one of the researchers, Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health. ``The question is whether we should recommend coffee consumption as a strategy. I don't think we're there yet.''

Type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, typically shows up in middle-aged people. The disease is on the rise and is striking more and more young people as Americans become fatter and less active.

People with type 2 diabetes either do not make enough insulin or their bodies don't use it properly. It leads to higher blood sugar levels, which over time can cause blindness, heart disease, kidney failure and nerve damage and can lead to amputations.

That's a lot of coffee. I wonder if the diuretic aspect might explain why quaffing java would have that effect, if it does. If coffee turns out to be the kind of cheap health prophylactic aspirin has, that will be a boon to us all.

Note 1: This entry also appeared in a news column at Silver Rights.

Note 2: You can learn more about diabetes as a minority health issue here.