If you’re a coffee drinker and at risk for type 2 diabetes, you may be in luck. The Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) released its annual diabetes report just in time for World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14. Not only did the institute find diabetes is markedly one of the most significant global health problems, but the good news is a regular cup of coffee may be able to decrease risk by 25 percent.

Today, there are 29.1 million people in the U.S. living with diabetes, yet an estimated 8.1 million are undiagnosed and unaware of the health threats they face, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all diabetes cases and is associated with obesity and physical inactivity, older age, race, and a family history of type 2 diabetes. But the thing most people seem to overlook, especially those who are unaware of their condition, type 2 diabetes can be prevented through healthy food choices, physical activity, weight loss, and now possibly coffee.

According to the research, ISIC, found three to four cups of coffee each day lower the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25 percent, compared to those who drank two cups or less. But the benefits don’t stop there—for every additional cup of coffee you earn yourself another seven to eight percent reduced risk. Surprisingly, it has little to do with the caffeine found in coffee because decaffeinated coffee exhibits a greater protective effect than caffeinated coffee. The benefits also depend on how the coffee was made. Filtered coffee had a greater protective effect than boiled coffee.

Researchers still aren’t sure what mechanisms are at work inside the coffee to lower the risk within the body, but it may be because of the antioxidants at play. The body just has a better glucose tolerance with high coffee consumption and it isn’t the first time researchers suspected the benefits. In 2006, Harvard researchers believed it was caffeine lowering insulin sensitivity, but decaffeinated coffee worked just as well. In 2010, Finnish researchers studied coffee effects in obese participants and thought the benefits stemmed from the anti-inflammatory benefits. Then in 2012, researchers published a study with a Japanese population, which found coffee was protective against glucose intolerance because it was able to modify the blood sugar levels.

A normal, healthy body can produce the correct amount of insulin from the pancreas, which is used to regulate sugar levels in the blood, known as glucose. When that same healthy person eats, glucose levels rise, and the pancreas releases the right amount of insulin in the blood stream. When the body cannot produce enough insulin to keep up with the amount of sugar in the body, or if the body becomes insulin sensitive over time, it leads to dangerous spikes in sugar levels.

Some people with type 2 diabetes can control their glucose levels with diet and exercise but oftentimes need medications or insulin injections to help them safely balance the glucose, according to the American Diabetes Association. One day, the morning coffee routine could be the prevention treatment coffee drinkers dream of.