Good news for coffee drinkers...

There probably are as many studies of coffee and different diseases, as there are varieties of the beverage.  Now there's a new study that may give coffee drinkers another reason to savor the taste of that cup of joe.            

ABC's Dr. Timothy Johnson has more in Your Health Report.

Studies on the link between coffee drinking and 'specific' health issues such as heart disease, cancer and stroke have yielded conflicting results.

But how does coffee consumption effect overall health?  Apparently not at all according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

If you're a coffee drinker in good health, you're at no greater risk of developing a chronic disease than a person who does not drink java.     

Researchers studied 42,000 German adults with no chronic conditions over 9 years.  They found that those who drank more than 4 cups of caffeinated coffee a day and those who drank none at all developed cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart attack, diabetes and cancer at the same rate.       

However, the coffee drinkers were 23 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and that's after taking weight and smoking into account.    

While this does not mean coffee prevents type 2 diabetes, researchers suggest there's something in that cup of joe... other than caffeine.  Because decaf drinkers were even less likely to develop diabetes than those who drank no coffee.