I love coffee. The taste, the smell, the experience of drinking that robust brew. For years, since cramming for finals at the University of Hawaii, coffee has been my favorite, guilty indulgence.

So it is with great pleasure that I hear that according to a March 2004 study involving more than 14,000 people in Finland, cups of coffee can ward off the risk of developing adult-onset diabetes...

"If you want to improve your understanding," said English essayist Sydney Smith, "drink coffee."

The Finns are the world's heaviest coffee drinkers. Here's what they found: People who drank three to four cups of coffee daily lowered their risk of developing diabetes by 29% for women and 27% for men. Ten or more cups a day reduced the risk by 79% for women and 55% for men.

In January 2004, Harvard researchers studied 125,000 people and found men who drank six cups a day cut their diabetes risk by half over 12 to 18 years, women had a 30% lowered risk.

Yipee.

Despite coffee's mysterious protective quality, caffeine does stimulate insulin secretion by the pancreas. Some experts hypothesize that it may be coffee's chlorogenic acid that indirectly helps to regulate blood glucose levels. Others reiterate that a good diet and exercise remained the best defense against diabetes.

In any case, while the experts keep exploring the possibilities, I say this calls for a special trip to Barnes & Noble for a nice, strong cup of jolting java... Cheers!

I'll take mine black, hot, and strong...