Consuming caffeine from energy drinks or coffee has been found to aid weight loss and stave off Type 2 diabetes for the first time.

A study found that people with higher caffeine levels in their blood are more likely to have a lower BMI and also to be at lower risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Scientists used a new form of analysis to study the genes of nearly 10,000 people. Two genes in particular, CYP1A2 and AHR, led to slow or fast caffeine metabolism.

People with these genes naturally break down caffeine more slowly, which means it stays in their bloodstream at higher levels for longer.

People who metabolise caffeine slowly more likely to be thin

Dr Dipender Gill, a clinical scientist at Imperial College London, who worked on the research, said that on a population level, this means that people who metabolise caffeine more slowly are more likely to be thinner and have less risk of diabetes.

The study found that people with caffeine-preserving genetics are more likely to have a lower BMI and that these individuals are 19 per cent less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes.

The scientists believe this is the first time a direct link has been found showing caffeine reduces the risk of diabetes and is directly involved with weight loss.

“Approximately half (43 per cent) of the effect of caffeine on type 2 diabetes was estimated to be mediated through body mass index reduction,” the scientists write in their study, published in BMJ Medicine.

They are also calling for randomised control trials to be conducted to see if the consumption of caffeinated non-caloric drinks could help reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes.

Dr Katarina Kos, Senior Lecturer in Diabetes and Obesity at the University of Exeter who was not involved in the study, said: “The genetic study shows links and potential health benefits for people with certain genes attributed to a faster coffee metabolism as a hereditary trait and potentially a better metabolism.

“It does not study or recommend drinking more coffee, which was not the purpose of this research.

“Most importantly, when considering coffee consumption and caffeine containing energy drinks, one must be mindful of the potential negative offset by surplus calories in form of sugar and fat in many of these drinks. Even for the option of increasing the use of calorie free caffeine drinks, a benefit has yet to be proven.”